Looks like we're in for a hosing over the next day or two. The National Weather Service has posted flash flood watches for all of Maryland west of the Chesapeake Bay (the green counties on this map).  And the beaches at Ocean City won't be spared. Here's the Shore forecast. A Parcheesi weekend ahead on Condo Row.

Blame the cold front that moved in with the thunderstorms last night. It's predicted to stall over the region today, placing us in the middle of the tracks as wave after wave of showers and thunderstorms roll up the front. The "training" effect will cause rainfall - heavy at times during thunderstorms - to pile up. Creeks will rise and some flooding is expected.

We're likely to remain on the tracks well into next week.

The first thunderstorm struck very early this morning, producing loud thunder and plenty of rain in some locations. We had 0.64 inch on the WeatherDeck in Cockeysville - most of it falling sometime around 1 a.m. The official rain gauge at BWI-Marshall clocked just a tenth of an inch between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. The Washington Reagan Airport station reported 0.71 inch between 1 and 2 a.m.

We can expect much more later today and through the weekend. The forecast calls for as much as 2.75 inches in the Baltimore region. Could be more or less depending on where you are, and where the sun breaks through to boil up the humidity and trigger storms. Take the umbrella.