Think of the sunshine we're seeing this morning, pouring down over the Maryland Penitentiary, as the match. The warm, moist air moving into the region out of the southwest, then, is the fuel. And by sometime late this afternoon or this evening, the two should combine to set off scattered and isolated showers and thunderstorms.

NWS forecasters out at Sterling said the storms "could become severe ... capable of producing large hail and damaging winds ... Some of the most favorable instability will be stationed across the I-95 corridor and down into N. Central Virginia."

The good news for race fans is that the warm, sticky weather and storms should all be swept away by a cold front that is ready to drop down across the region overnight, clearing the decks for a dry and pleasant weekend, and a fast track for the Preakness.

"Sometimes it works out that the workweek will have nice weather, and a consecutive series of weekends will not be that nice," the forecasters said in a rare bit of prose in this morning's forecast discussion. (The translation from telegraphic weatherspeak is mine.)

"This week should be the reverse," they said. "After having storms earlier in the week and again today, high pressure will be settling into the region for the weekend, bringing plenty of sunshine ...Enjoy."

It should also be pretty breezy, with northwest winds of 11 to 16 mph, with higher gusts.

Then, of course, the new workweek begins, and the rains return. The first half of the new week looks cloudy and wet as low pressure moves our way out of the Midwest. Chances for showers Monday and Tuesday rise to 50 and 60 percent, with sunshine returning by Thursday, if the forecast holds up that long.

(SUN PHOTO/Karl Merton Ferron, 2002)