Weather disturbances traveling along the stalled frontal boundary that's draped across the Northeast (the dark blue swath on the national radar map above) will mean showers and thunderstorms as the day goes by today. Sunday looks partly sunny, forecasters say, but there's more rain in store Monday as the remnants of Hurricane Ike (scary red blob above) are swept across the Southeast, along the front, to the mid-Atlantic states.

First, we can expect up to a quarter-inch of rain today, and more of the same tonight as the first storms move through, forecasters say. Some spots under thunderstorms could see more. There are still some abnormally dry conditions on the Eastern Shore, so more rain is welcome for now. The rain chances continue on Saturday, but the probabilities diminish.

You can blame the southerly winds, which are blowing more mild, moist air into the region, where it is running up against cooler air to the north, fueling the precipitation.

Sunday looks partly sunny and very warm, with afternoon highs crowding 90 degrees. Quite a surprise after enjoying three days in the 70s.

Then Ike's moisture moves in late on Sunday and Monday, accelerating out of the lower Mississippi Valley and getting absorbed by low pressure along the cold front. No estimates yet on where, exactly, the bulk of the rain will fall, or how much to expect. My guess is that, with all the damage we're likely to be reading about in Texas, nobody will pay any attention to our rain.

By late Monday the cold front finally will have pushed through, bringing cooler, drier air down from the Great Lakes. We should see sunny skies through the middle of the week, with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s, and overnight lows in the 50s.

So, what's that other red stuff on the radar, southeast of Florida? Those are the disorganized remnants of Tropical Storm Josephine. Some "slow development" is forecast as the bad weather moves north-northwest. Stay tuned.