A beautiful, long weekend will be followed in Maryland by a sunny and hot week. There is no significant rain in the forecast (and we remain seriously dry across the region).

Here's the official forecast, calling for daytime highs in the 80s to near 90 degrees all week. Wednesday and Thursday will be closer to normal, in the low 80s before we slip back into the upper 80s at week's end. That's not terribly unusual for early September in Baltimore. We'd have to see highs in the upper 90s to threaten any records at BWI. But it is well above the averages for this time of year, which run closer to 80 degrees through the middle of the month.

The clear skies and mild temperatures should provide some pleasant stargazing, however. Jupiter is the very bright "star" in the southwest after sunset. If you're up after midnight, look east. That brightening red dot is Mars. It's even easier to see before dawn, when it is high in the southern sky. Mars is headed for a (relatively) close encounter with Earth in December, so it will be brightening all through the autumn. Early risers can also get a look at a very bright Venus, in the east before sunrise. 

Unfortunately, there will be no worthwhile flyovers by the International Space Station this week. But look for a nice one, just before 6 a.m. on the 11th. More on that here in a few days.

In the meantime, here is a very cool video of a recent ISS transit of the moon. It may take a few seconds to download, but it shows the ghostly image of the station as it flew between the observer's telescope and the moon. You can see very clearly the distorting effect the atmosphere has on our view of the moon. It's like looking at clouds from the bottom of a pool.