BWI airport has reported 4.11 inches of rain so far this month, the first monthly rain surplus since September, with more rain to come early next week. We're already 2.61 inches over the long-term averages for April to date in Baltimore. So surely the drought that began last month is over. Right?

Well, maybe. Or maybe not. This surplus has certainly reduced the moisture deficit we'd been building since October. Our garden dirt is wet, streams looked very high yesterday (although they are falling rapidly today), reservoirs surely got a boost (if they even needed one), and sagging water tables must be responding to these last three days of rain.

On the other hand, the Drought Monitor Map out this morning (above) shows no change in Maryland's status from last week's report. One hundred percent of the state remains at least "abnormally dry" on the map, and nearly 80 percent of that is still reported in "moderate drought" conditions.

But we need to take the Drought Monitor with a grain of salt. While the new map is reported on Thursday mornings, it reflects measurements that cut off at 7 a.m. on the previous Tuesday. This latest three-day rainfall began on Monday, so today's map misses most of the rain that fell on Tuesday, and all of yesterday's precipitation. So things may not be as dry as they look on the map. We only need to look outdoors to reach that conclusion.

So we may need to wait until next Thursday to get a truer reading on where we stand. And by then we will have received more rain, some of which will probably not show up on the next map for all the same reasons.

Whatever. The rain has certainly been good news. It's helped. A lot. And there's more on the way. That's all good.

As for the numbers, Pasadena wins the rainfall lottery for Wednesday, reporting more than 1.5 inches this morning for the last 24 hours. We had 1.17 inches here at The Sun. And out on the WeatherDeck in Cockeysville, my total for the three days came to 1.9 inches. Here are some measurements from across the state.

The forecast, meanwhile, remains terrific. Sunny skies into Sunday, with temperatures in the 60s to low 70s.

One caution: clear skies tonight will mean rapid radiational cooling. Some normally colder locations west of the metro areas could see some patchy frost tonight as temperatures sink into the 30s. If you already have tender plants growing outdoors, you know what to do.