A report of a tornado touchdown in East Columbia, and a funnel cloud hear Centreville yesterday, prompted authorities to clear the National Mall yesterday afternoon. But there has been no confirmation that any twisters actually touched the ground. Here is a rundown on are storm and damage reports yesterday afternoon, including the reported funnel clouds, lots of hail, some tree and cable damage.

The National Weather Service forecast office in Sterling, Va. has not yet decided whether the reports warrant sending a team out to inspect any damage and verify whether a tornado touched down.

The thunderstorms that swept the Baltimore region last evening dropped widely variable amounts of water. The downpour was torrential, but brief in downtown Baltimore, and the fireworks went off despite a lingering drizzle. Other stations recorded little or no precipitation. Here's The Sun's story on the festivities and the storms.

And here are some rain totals, through midnight, from around the region:

BWI: 0.58 inches

Science Center, Baltimore: 0.86 inches

The Sun: 0.14 inches

Washington National: 0.03 inches

Dulles Int'l: 0.74 inches

Hagerstown: Trace

Martinsburg, W. Va.: 0.02 inches

Recent rains, especially in western Maryland, appear to have eased the dry conditions that have been worsening in recent weeks. The western counties have dropped out of the "moderate drought" category on this week's Drought Monitor maps, although 97 percent of the state is now considered "abnormally dry" - up a tad from last week. The maps reflect conditions on Tuesday of each week, so last night's rain has not yet been taken into account.

There may be more storms, and just plain rain in store for us this afternoon and evening as a cold front approaches and shoves off the coast. Here is the forecast. The threat will vanish by the weekend, and strong sunshine will boost temperatures into the 90s well into next week.

Headed for the beach? Here's the forecast.