NIH's computer gurus listed a Web page that gives news reports about Internet performance and maps out traffic problems; sort of like the morning/afternoon rush hour reports in major metro areas:

Interweather

Here's their reports from the past couple of days; even the Weathermen are having trouble with their server!
Friday, October 10th

Morning update: server problems.... (9:15 AM PDT)

At present, InterWeather.com is experiencing server problems and our statistics system is not currently working properly. We expect to be back up to full strength by this evening and should resume normal operations at that time.

Wednesday, October 8th

Morning update: Widespread troubles

The morning's statistics indicate network problems spread across much of the 'Net. Packet losses to many of the major backbone providers that we ping have increased steadily throughout the morning; however, statistics for each network seem to fluctuat independently, suggesting an overall instability under heavy traffic loads -- not uncommon for a Wednesday morning, as it is often the highest-traffic day of the week for many providers. Traffic reports from several backbone providers also suggest that today has seen high traffic loads so far, and is shaping up to be a rough ride.