There are no official severe storm watches or warnings posted yet for Central Maryland. But BGE has assessed the forecast and put its crews on alert for the power outages that thunderstorms and gusty winds could bring to the region tonight. In a news release this afternoon, the utility said:

"An approaching cold front could bring one to two inches of rain tomorrow morning, along with wind gusts of close to 50 miles per hour. These weather conditions could cause trees and tree limbs to come down onto power lines and other electric delivery equipment, interrupting service to customers.

"BGE has canceled non-emergency maintenance work and is in the process of identifying available resources, including BGE linemen and contract tree crews to ensure service can be restore to customers as safely and as quickly as possible."

The National Weather Service has posted a Hazardous Weather Outlook for most of the state west of the bay. It says:

"THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AFTER MIDNIGHT. THESE WILL BE
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND HEAVY RAIN THAT COULD
LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING."

Temperature at The Sun at 2:50 p.m.:  81 degrees

Temperature at BWI at 3 p.m.:  82 degrees. Record high for the date is 83. I'm guessing this heat will pop those tree buds, get the grass growing and send pollen counts climbing. Welcome to the allergy season.