The mercury sank to just 13 degrees this morning at BWI - 15 at The Sun and 12 degrees out on the WeatherDeck in Cockeysville. And tonight promises to be another very cold night as clear skies open the window for quick radiational cooling.

Not that we gained much solar heating today. I was on assignment at the zoo, and yoiks! it was cold out there. Today's HIGH for BWI looks like 24 degrees.

That's no record, but it is the normal LOW temperature for Baltimore at this time of year. Those heat pumps and furnaces have been spinning like crazy, gobbling up those hard-earned dollars we haven't technically earned yet. Ouch!

Help is on the way. As this big high-pressure center moves off winds will start to swing around the the south and southwest. That will drive daytime temps back toward 50 degrees by Saturday and (how sweet this is) 60 degrees by Sunday.

Things won't stay quite that springlike next week. But the sunshine will hang around, and we'll enjoy highs in the 40s to near 50.

The next precipitation doesn't pop into the forecast until Thursday. And unless you live in the mountains of western Maryland, it's rain.

Total snow (officially) for the season to date at BWI: 3.1 inches

Thirty-year average, full season:  18.2 inches

Last time we exceeded the average: 2005-06 - 19.6 inches