All the chatter Wednesday about thunderstorms late in the day came to nothing around Baltimore, as most of the serious convection and storm damage stayed well to our south. But now the cold front has passed and we're set up for a long stretch of sunny and increasingly hot and humid weather.

The forecast out of Sterling this morning tells me that Thursday and Friday will be the best of the lot. Highs Thursday will top out in the mid-80s at BWI-Marshall. That's about normal for this time of year. We'll have sunshine and relatively low humidity as high pressure builds and our air comes to us from the northwest.

Stargazers can look forward to clear, starry skies Thursday night. Temperatures in the highlands to our west will drop into the 50s.

If you can skip out on Friday, the day looks like another beautiful day to be somewhere other than work. A sidewalk table, perhaps. Or out on the links? Highs will climb into the mid- to upper-80s, but places close to the western shore of the Bay should enjoy a cooling bay breeze. The forecast for Ocean City will please the Chamber of Commerce - sunny, with highs in the 70s and 80s well into next week.

But as this high-pressure system drifts off the coast, winds will shift to the south around the backside of the high. That will bring us hotter temperatures and higher humidities on Saturday. Look for temperatures to top out in the low-90s. That kind of heating could also touch off some isolated thunderstorms.

Sunday will be much the same as Saturday - maybe even a tad hotter as the year's strongest sunshine beats down on us. High pressure, sunny skies and 90-degree weather looks to continue well into the first week of summer, with only a chance for isolated thunderstorms.

Just remember, you wished for this back in February.

(SUN PHOTO: Karl Merton Ferron, 2002) 

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