Forecasters say Central Maryland could see a thunderstorm or two this afternoon. It's only a 40 percent chance. Not everyone will see it. And even if we do, they say it won't amount to more than a quarter inch. 

But we'll take what we can get. Although amounts vary by location, the official instruments at BWI-Marshall have seen just two significant rain events this month: nearly an inch (0.95 inch) on Aug. 7, and almost a half-inch (0.47 inch) on the 20th. July, too, was very dry.

So, we're parched. The new Drought Monitor map, out this morning, shows nearly all of Maryland - except for far western Garrett County, experiencing at least "abnormally dry" conditions - part of a broad sweep of dry weather that extends from the Deep South to southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. And the central part of Maryland has fallen in the past week into "moderate drought" conditions affecting chiefly agriculture (rather than water supplies) for the second time since May.