The folks at the Sterling forecast office say a cold front approaching from the northwest will stall over the region, putting us in the path of a succession of storms that could drop 3 to 5 inches of rain in some spots between tomorrow and the middle of next week.  We can certainly use the rain. But if it comes in too big a hurry we could see some localized flooding before it's over. Most definitely NOT the weekend to spend at the beach.

Here's the forecast for BWI-Marshall, which shows the heaviest rainfall amounts tomorrow (Friday). Here's the hazardous weather statement from Sterling. And here's a snippet from today's forecast discussion:

"THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS EXPECTED TO STALL FROM NORTHEAST MARYLAND
ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE ARK.-LA.-MISS. REGION. WAVES OF LOW
PRESSURE...WITH HELP FROM MID LEVEL SHORTWAVES RIDING NORTHEAST IN
THE FLOW...WILL HELP TO FOCUS PRECIPITATION ALONG THIS BOUNDARY FOR
THE DURATION OF ITS STAY. IN ADDITION...THERE WILL BE SOME UPPER JET
DYNAMICS PRESENT ... FROM ALL INDICATIONS EARLY ESTIMATES OF THREE TO FIVE INCHES OF RAIN...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS...STILL LOOKS GOOD."

Something to watch: If the cards fall the right way, the tropical disturbance off the Eastern bahamas could slide our way and pile up even more rain over the weekend. Here's more on that from AccuWeather.