Sunshine and clear skies continue to grace Maryland counties to the west of the I-95 corridor. But somehow the clouds have lingered stubbornly over the urban corridor, despite all that hope we lavished on the situation Sunday.

Forecasters out at Sterling say the problem has been the slow-moving low off the Carolinas, which has kept the clouds clinging to the coastline. The problem now becomes whether that coastal storm will drift azway, and clear our skies, before the next weather disturbance moves in with a weak cold fron on Tuesday.

"Did an update to try to better depict the cloudy versus clear area. At the rate the cloud cover seems to be waning, another may be needed shortly to paint a more optimistic picture," the weather folks said in their Monday morning discussion.

The good news is that none of the forecasts include more rain for our area, although some places in the mountains could see some showers Tuesday morning, and maybe some snow showers by Thursday morning as temperatures there sink into the 20s. Our week looks generally sunny after today, with highs at BWI in the 50s to near 60 degrees.

The weather news headline for us - aside from those promises of sunshine - may be the Tuesday-into-Wednesday-morning forecast for lows near the freezing mark. That would be the coldest reading of the season so far, and could put an end to the growing season for the northern and western Baltimore suburbs. The city low forecast for Wednesday morning is around 40 degrees.

Finally, the full Hunter's Moon (or, if you prefer, the Frosty Moon or the Beaver Moon) rises over Baltimore tonight beginning at 4:41 p.m. EST. With any luck, the clouds will be gone.