Well, it was snowing pretty nicely in the northern part of Baltimore County this morning. But none of it was sticking to the pavement. And as we passed the Pepsi sign on the JFX, it seemed to be falling more as light rain.

The problem is that, while temperatures aloft are cold enough to generate snow, temperatures at the surface are warmer. The city heat-island effect may also be at work on this snow. Most of what makes it to the ground as snow quickly melts on contact. So much for the big storm snow-lovers had hoped for from this system.

What we've seen so far has been generated by a weak cold front that has been edging into the region since yesterday. You can see its outline in the satellite image above. The much-anticipated coastal storm tracking along that front is now just getting cranked up off the Carolina coast. It's forecast to intensify and slide north and east toward Cape Cod today. We stand on the western edge of the storm's influence as it throws moisture back into the cold air behind it. Forecasters at Sterling say the best chances for precipitation - snow showers - today and tonight will be from I-95 south and east.

The biggest impact from all this may be the colder, drier air that will begin to sweep south and east into the region as the storm at sea deepens and pulls away toward the Canadian maritime provinces. Here's the BWI forecast. Western counties may see some accumulating snow from that, but all we'll see are temperatures in the low 30s tomorrow and Thursday, and overnight lows in the upper teens to near 20 degrees.

It won't last long, however. As that high-pressure system spins clockwise and pulls off the coast, we'll come into the return flow from the south. Temperatures through the weekend and into Monday will climb into the springlike 50s - about 10 degrees above the norms for this time of year at BWI.  Overnight lows may not dip to freezing. 

Next week we move into what are arguably the snowiest 8 days on the record books for Baltimore. But for the moment, there is nothing in sight to speed the pulse of the deperately snow-deprived among us.