Today's Weather Page says "Chance of Snow" for Monday. But National Weather Service forecasters at Sterling aren't very encouraging on that topic. This morning's discussion is preoccupied with the intense storm and cold front that's headed our way, with the likelihood of damaging winds and high water late tomorrow as the storm crashes by. Here's all the NWS has to say on the subject of Monday snow:

"A (Southwest) TROUGH DIVING FROM THE
LAKES REGION WILL CROSS THE AREA ON MONDAY AND COULD PRODUCE THE FIRST SNOWFLAKES OF THE SEASON ... HOWEVER...THIS DOES NOT WARRANT
MORE THAN A 20 POP (PERCENT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION) AND ANY MEASURABLE PRECIP WOULD BE VERY LIGHT IF ANY."

Still, if we could please manage a little snow - maybe on Tuesday rather than Monday - we could continue the little streak that began in 2002: snow on three of the last four Dec. 5's. (And the fourth, in 2004, was followed by several days of light snow after the 5th.)

But enough about a little snow. We have some pretty wild weather coming in tomorrow. High wind watches are up for almost the entire state. They don't seem to think we'll get much, if any, thunder and lightning. But high winds will be a real issue tomorrow. Here's part of the advisory:

"A HIGH WIND WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
FRIDAY EVENING. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE REGION LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A LINE OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS WHICH WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS. THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS INCLUDED MUCH OF THE EAST COAST UNDER A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

"WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT ARE ALSO EXPECTED TO BE QUITE STRONG.
SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND AREAS CLOSER
TO THE PENNSYLVANIA BORDER."

And here's AccuWeather's take.

In the meantime, we're looking at some really strange temperature swings. Tonight's forecast LOW for BWI is 55 degrees. That's four degrees HIGHER than the average HIGH temperature for Dec. 1 at the airport.

Tomorrow, before the front arrives, we'll see a high of 67 degrees - only a few degrees below the record high for the date. Then we get the frontal passage, and the overnight low for Friday into Saturday sinks to 35 degrees - a 32-degree plunge for the day. How cool is that?