If the forecast out of Sterling holds up, this could be the coldest day of 2008. And when you add in the blustery winds, it will feel like it's even colder.

They're calling for a high at BWI this afternoon of just 26 degrees. It's 22 now at The Sun, after an overnight low of just 16 degrees. We had the same - 16 - out on the WeatherDeck in Cockeysville this morning. And it was 15 at BWI.

Here are some other lows across the state this morning, with some single-digit readings out in Garrett and a few sub-zero numbers in SW Pennsylvania and in West Virginia. Be thankful you don't live farther north.

There have been only five days in 2008 when the daytime highs did not reach 32 degrees:

Jan. 3:  31 degrees

Jan 21:  28 degrees

Feb. 11:  28 degrees

Feb. 12:  31 degrees

And, if the 13-degree low forecast for BWI tonight proves accurate, that would tie for the second-coldest reading in 2008. The coldest was an 8-degree low on Jan. 21. 

Electric power producers in the region are bracing for what could be the year's highest wintertime demand for electric power this evening. Here's the word from the PJM Interconnection - the region's power grid managers:

"Today’s peak demand for electricity in the PJM region is forecast to exceed 113,000 megawatts (MW) this evening. PJM’s all-time winter peak demand was 118,800 MW on Feb. 5, 2007, at 8 p.m. eastern. Last winter’s PJM peak demand was 111,724 MW on Jan. 3, 2008, at 7 p.m. eastern."

The weather service has posted a Wind Advisory for Washington County and the northern Shore. They're expecting winds of 20 to 30 mph today, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Combined with the arctic air that swept across the region yesterday and last night, that may have pushed wind chill numbers below zero early this morning.

A Hazardous Weather Outlook has been issued for Baltimore and its suburbs through the afternoon as low pressure moves up the East Coast, and a strong arctic high builds into the Plains.

Temperatures in the 20s at this time of year in Baltimore are almost 20 degrees below the long-term averages, so they generally don't last for long. And that should be true this week. Expect a very cold night tonight, and clear skies. Temperatures will bleed away into the low- to mid-teens. Then things should begin to moderate.

Tuesday should bring us back above freezing, but between the warmer, wetter air from the South, and an approaching cold front, we're headed for more clouds and a cold rain Tuesday night and Wednesday. Some of it may begin with freezing rain early Wednesday morning before shifting to all-rain as the front moves to our south and stalls. Sounds a lot like this past Saturday's weather.

Anyway, get past the rain (and maybe a final dusting of snow showers before it ends late on Wednesday) and the drier air moves back in. Then we're looking at partly sunny skies and seasonable temperatures in the 40s for Christmas Day. Friday looks like more rain chances, continuing into the weekend, with temperatures a few degrees above the long-term averages.