1:20 p.m. Update: The front has passed, producing gusts to 31 mph at BWI, but barely a drop of rain. Just 0.01 inch was recorded at BWI. Skies should clear up nicely now for the weekend. The strip charts show clearly how the front passed between 10 and 11 a.m. The wind speaked, the temperatures began to fall, and the barometer began climbing again. Click here for a look, and scroll toward the bottom.

The National Weather Service earlier issued a wind warning for gusts to 50 mph as this cold front moves through the area. There was a clap of thunder in downtown Baltimore about 10:15 this morning. Here's the current radar image.

The good news is that this front should move through quickly, with rapid clearing and nice, clear, cool weather right behind. The bad news is we won't get much rain out of it. I've had just one tenth of an inch all month in Cockeysville. The airport reported just .66 inch in September as today's front approached. We'll see shortly how much more we get this month, and how September 2005 will rank among the driest on record here.

Update: With just 0.01 inch more in the rain barrel, BWI ends the month with 0.67 inch of rain, making it the 10th driest September on record.

The dry weather could dull the display of fall colors along the Blue Ridge, according to the Richmond papers.

Meanwhile, the air behind the front is sending temperatures below freezing in the upper Midwest. Here's the newspaper report from Minnesota. 

(Which makes me wonder.... Where will "online news" come from if declining newspaper circulation forces cuts in the newsroom staffs of newspapers around the country? The fact of the matter is, most of the news we read "online" is originally reported and written by newspapers. Wire services get most of their content from member newspapers. Broadcast outlets rely heavily on local and national papers.

(No other news organizations have the trained manpower - sheer numbers of reporters and editors - to get the job done. If newspapers decline, everyone's access to information, and our vital checks on government power, will decline along with them. We can't turn back the clock. People are going to get more of their news from the Web, and less on paper. If you're reading this, you're a case in point.

(So newspapers need to find a way to capture a significant income stream from their online products, and readers (or advertisers) will need to be willing to pay something for the service. I notice the New York Times has begun to charge for online access to some columnists. There's no free lunch. But I digress. Your thoughts are always welcome.)