The clouds and fog that have socked us in this morning will likely burn off by the end of the day, forecasters tell us. Partial sunshine will return for most of the region, but then the folks at Sterling add a caveat to their morning discussion: "If there is an area that may not break up ... it would be near Baltimore." Thanks, guys, but I can already see sunshine on the State Pen.

The moisture is being hauled in here off the Atlantic by a southeast breeze, the back side of the clockwise circulation around that high pressure center still lingering off the northeast coast.

After the sun peeks through this afternoon, we can expect more moisture to roll in overnight, leaving us with more overcast skies and morning fog in spots on Thursday, especially nearer the bay. That should burn off later in the day.

With luck it will be clear enough by nightfall Thursday to give us a decent view of the International Space Station as it cruises up the East Coast, and across the Chesapeake Bay just south of Baltimore. Watch for details here, or in the dead-tree editions of The Sun on Thursday morning.

From then on, through the weekend and into next week, we're looking for sunny skies and warm temperatures, with daytime highs in the low 80s, and overnight lows in the 60s. That's 10 degrees or more above the long-term averages for Baltimore at this time of year.

The only risk appears to be a chance for showers in Southern Maryland or the lower Eastern Shore by Friday if there's enough moisture shoved up the coast from a storm system in the Gulf of Mexico that's struggling to become a tropical storm.

Rain? Here? Show me ...