It was a frosty 32 degrees out on the WeatherDeck this morning. The rear window defroster took care of the glaze in short order, and the windows facing the house and nearby cars were clear. Daytime temperatures will rise as the week progresses, crowding 80 degrees by Friday, if the forecast holds up. Temps will be cooler along the bay, especially as solar heating of the land sets up a bay breeze, drawing cooler air onshore from the Chesapeake.

But the clear skies in the forecast will mean a risk of frost for the next two nights as radiational cooling wipes out warmth accumulated from the sunshine during the day.

The overnight low this morning at BWI was 38 degrees. That's no record. The record low for today's date is 24 degrees, set back in 1950.  Here are some other low readings from around the region this morning.

It may seem like it's been cold this month, but in fact we're running 2.2 degrees above the average so far. We had three straight days in the 70s Thursday through Saturday, reaching 78 at BWI on Friday afternoon. That was 15 degrees above the long-term average for the date, helping to keep the running average fairly high.

Small craft advisories are up on the Maryland portion of the Bay until 4 p.m. today as north winds keep things stirred up. Forecasters are also noting the chance for patchy frost between the I-95 corridor and the mountains tonight and tomorrow night.

Clear skies at night for the rest of the workweek will mean fine stargazing. Unfortunately, the International Space Station will not be making an appearance. But Mars (high in the southwest) and Saturn (high in the southeast) are visible in the evening. And Jupiter shines low in the southeast in the early morning before dawn. The moon makes a straight line with Saturn and Regulus tonight, in Leo. And they form a triangle tomorrow night.