And that will be about it. One day with sunshine on all the autumn colors. One day with temperatures climbing into the 70s - maybe even flirting with the record of 77 degrees at BWI Marshall, set in 1975.

And then the next cold front drifts through. Clouds creep in from the west late today, then the chances for rain begin to climb for the wee hours and daytime hours tomorrow, if the forecast from Sterling holds up. Sunday will be your outdoor day this weekend, with mostly sunny skies in the forecast, and highs near 58 degrees - about normal for early November in Baltimore. 

As the cold air builds in late in the weekend, we can look forward to cooler temperatures on Monday and Veterans' Day. The holiday will see a high near 50 degrees after an overnight low of just 38.  The showers return with the approach of the storm system from the lower Mississippi Valley.

Be grateful we're not in the Dakotas, where they're having their first blizzard of the season. (Snow depth map below; darker blue is 10-20 inches). Here's the forecast for Rapid City, S.D. Bless them.

This morning's low temperature at BWI was 53 degrees. It seemed crazy warm when we stepped out the door. But it was far from the "record high minimum" for the date (62 degrees, on Nov. 7, 1938).

None of the rain in the forecast would seem to offer much hope for filling the streams again, or recharging the groundwater and the reservoirs. We have recorded just 1.5 inches at BWI since Oct. 1. About a third of Maryland is now rated "abnormally dry," according to this week's Drought Monitor report. Those areas include Southern Maryland and the more northern counties on the Eastern Shore.