Once these overcast skies burn off today we should be looking at a pleasant, sunny March afternoon as dewpoints finally drop and drier air moves in. Tomorrow will be even better, with more sunshine and afternoon highs well into the 60s, if not 70.

There is a bit of rain in the forecast for late Wednesday and Thursday as another cold front pushes through to deliver a cool, clear weekend.

But don't look for any relief from this dry weather. The showers they're forecasting from Sterling are chancy, produced by what they expect will be a "weakening" band of precipitation along the frontal boundary as it heads for the coast.

So far this month we've recorded just 0.62 inch of rain, and only 0.12 for the past two weeks. We have another two weeks to make this up, of course. But if it were to continue, March 2009 could rank among the three driest Marches since record-keeping began in Baltimore in 1871.

March 2004:  0.18 inch

March 1910:  0.46 inch

March 1966:  0.93 inch

March 1986:  0.96 inch

March 1987:  0.99 inch

This dry weather in March, of course, follows what was the driest February on record for Baltimore. Only 0.26 inch of melted precipitation was recorded at the airport, breaking the previous record of 0.36 inches set in February 2002.

In fact, Baltimore hasn't had a monthly rain surplus since September. But the conditions at BWI may be a better reflection of what's been happening south and west of Baltimore in recent months. That's where Maryland's driest conditions exist this winter.

North of the city, where the region's three reservoirs draw their reserves, things have been closer to normal. (See below) And Kurt Kocher, spokesman for the city's water system, says the water on hand amounts to almost 92 percent of capacity, "pretty average" for this time of year. Prettyboy is full, he said; Loch Raven is almost so, and Liberty Reservoir stands at 86 percent of capacity.

For now, those of us on city water remain in good shape. Another tip of the hat to Abel Wolman and the other founders of Baltimore's water system who had the foresight to ensure stable water supplies for populations no one else in their day could have imagined.