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May 5, 2008

Off to a great start

NOAA 

The high pressure system that began sweeping in Sunday behind that cold front looks like it will dominate our weather for the better part of this week. Forecasters are calling for sunny to mostly sunny skies through Wednesday, with highs in the 70s to near 80 degrees by Wednesday. That's a little warmer than normal for this time of year in Baltimore. Beautiful.

(There is a deck of low clouds, visible on the NOAA satellite image above) skidding through the region ATM, but the folks out in Sterling say that will move along, and thin as drier air continues to move in. Things will be drier and clearer Tuesday through Thursday.)

But as the week rolls along, another low-pressure system, described as "potent" and "tighly wrapped" is expected to develop over the Central Plains states. If so, we can expect the danger of intense storms and tornadoes to develop in Tornado Alley again, as they did last week. None of this is unusual in springtime.

That low will move gradually west to east, into the Ohio Valley, weaking before it heads our way with a chance of showers Thursday into Friday.

Happily, high pressure returns after the storm blows through, bringing us sunny skies and cooler temperatures for Saturday, if the forecast holds up. Showers return on Sunday as yet another low approaches from the Plains.

For stargazers, the dry air working its way into the region today will bring clear skies tonight. My Clear Sky Alarm  went off this morning, showing good stargazing conditions after 11 p.m. tonight, although temperatures will also be dropping - into the mid-40s for Baltimore. The record low for Baltimore on a May 6 is 40 degrees, reached last in 1925.

So, enjoy the clear skies for a while, then jump into a warm bed.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 11:16 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Forecasts
        

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About Frank Roylance
Frank Roylance is a reporter for The Baltimore Sun. He came to Baltimore from New Bedford, Mass. in 1980 to join the old Evening Sun. He moved to the morning Sun when the papers merged in 1992, and has spent most of his time since covering science, including astronomy and the weather. One of The Baltimore Sun's first online Web logs, the Weather Blog debuted in October 2004. In June 2006 Frank also began writing comments on local weather and stargazing for The Baltimore Sun's print Weather Page. Frank also answers readers’ weather queries for the newspaper and the blog. Frank Roylance retired in October 2011. Maryland Weather is now being updated by members of The Baltimore Sun staff
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