Okay, so maybe we WON'T make it back into the 90s today. Forecasters appear to be backing off yesterday's predictions that we would be back in the 90s - or at least an even 90 degrees - this afternoon.

The current forecast out of Sterling puts today's high at BWI at a "cool" 85 degrees. That's actually a couple of degrees below the average for a July 11 in Baltimore. We'll see. It's already 84 degrees here at Calvert & Centre streets. I think we can expect denizens of downtown Baltimore to see the 90s today, even if the airport, out in suburbia, doesn't.

The real weather news for today is that we have a good shot at more thunderstorms this afternoon. Sterling puts the chances at 60 percent. But then they put yesterday's risk of thunderstorms at 20 percent, and look what happened!

Today's storms are the real deal - the harbingers of the long-awaited cold front that will move this hot, humid, polluted air mass out of here at last. The next few days should see high temperatures back in the mid-80s, with lower humidities. A secondary front will cross the region on Saturday, they tell us, raising the chances for a small risk of showers or thunderstorms on Friday.

Then, by Sunday, we may be back in the 90s, with increasing heat and humidity as the new week rolls out. This is still July in Baltimore, after all.