Just back from a reporting trip to the Maryland Zoo, where Felix has finally given birth to her new calf. Standing out in the wind with the zoo folks and the elephants, we all felt colder than we have all winter. That cold wind out of the west and northwest cuts right through you, and the bright sunshine does little to compensate for the wind chill.

Winds here at The Sun have been gusting as high as 29 mph this morning. With temperatures around 50 degrees, the wind chills are running a bit less than 40 degrees. Out at BWI, they've clocked sustained winds in the 20s, with gusts as high as 39 mph this afternoon. 

There are gale warnings on the Bay, where data bouys at noon were reporting winds and gusts over 30 knots.

Wind advisories have been posted across most of Maryland, advising of gusts as high as 45 mph through 10 p.m. today.

It will get colder tonight, with lows just below freezing. Friday, the next low-pressure system will start to approach from the northwest (left), bringing us a renewed chance for precipitation on Friday night. Garrett Countians may see a few more inches of snow, and even the northern tier of Maryland counties could see some flakes mixing in as we catch the clipper's last gasps.

Longer range, forecasters are watching the computer models as they wrestle with the track of a potential snowstorm expected to visit the East Coast next week. One model has the storm taking a more westward track and visiting snow upon the mid-Atlantic and New England states. But the rest keep the storm to our south, and along the coast, sparing the urban corridor. Here's AccuWeather.com's Henry Margusity on the topic. Even he seems to be doubtful about this one.