Saturday is your best bet for the weekend
If you're hoping for at least one good outdoor day this weekend, it looks like Saturday will be your best bet. The next coastal storm in this autumn's continuing parade is fixing to spin on up the East Coast, and we're likely to fall under its rain shield as early as Sunday afternoon.
Saturday, however, looks great for a hike or a roll up the bike trail. High pressure centered in the Ohio Valley is building across the region today (Friday) and will bring us more sunshine Saturday,
with a high in the upper 50s.
The relatively mild temperatures are the work of bright sunshine, and something called "downsloping." Winds out of the west or northwest flow across the Appalachians and slide down the eastern slope. And as they descend, the air is compressed, which warms it up. The average highs at BWI at this time of year are in the mid-50s.
By Sunday, however, clouds will be on the increase, with the chance of showers rising in the afternoon as a low-pressure system forming over the Gulf moves off the Southeast coast. The computer models disagree, of course, on the timing, and on how close the low will come to the shore. And, as it does with winter storms, that storm track will determine just how much precipitation we see.
Whatever we get, it's likely to arrive late Sunday into Monday. We may get a brief look at the sun again on Tuesday, but there's more rain likely at mid-week as the next cold front slides by. From this distance, Thanksgiving Day is looking like a gray one, too, with a 40 percent chance of rain.
(SUN PHOTO/Jerry Jackson/2007)






east wind is shoving bay water on the western shore, with

So much for what had been a sunny forecast for the end of the week.
All that wind, coupled with an approaching new moon, will drive more water onto the beaches, and hold it against the Chesapeake shoreline.
our northwest,
tender plants that are still outdoors tonight.
Westminster, 32 in Shrewsbury, Pa., and in Poolesville, Md.
Forecasters out at Sterling say the problem has been the
Don't despair, Baltimore. The weather gods have been taking their time, but the cold front is moving off, and the cloud deck over our heads is about to pass off to the south and east of the city.
to our south and rolls up the coast. But not yet.
As if we haven't had enough already (another inch fell on Friday and Saturday), the National Weather Service has still more rain in store for us this week.
high-pressure system to our north will move in after the rain and dry things out, with sunny days due for Thursday and Friday.
over, we could have a half-inch, to as much as an inch of rain from all this.
If you can get outside today (and tomorrow), do it. (Some of us may even see temperatures touch 80 degrees in spots.) Because by Friday we will be under the influence of an approaching cold front.
As we've noted before, we expect today will mark the fourth consecutive day with highs below 50 degrees. If so, it will be the first time that's ever (since record-keeping began in 1871) occurred in October in Baltimore. It will also be only the second time on record (the last was in 1899) that we have set (or tied) all-time record-low maximum temperatures for five consecutive days.
degrees at BWI. As much as an inch of precipitation is possible at the airport.
nights for the higher elevations of the Blue Ridge mountains to our west. By Friday night into Saturday morning, there will be enough moisture and low-enough temperatures out there to produce a snow/rain mix at high elevations.
The National Weather Serevice has issued
and Cumberland, where overnight lows are headed for the 30s.
of it heavy at times - in the cards for Central Maryland. So it just seems like a good weekend to buy early and curl up with a good book.
and tomorrow could reach the low to mid-80s, about 8 degrees
The clouds are closing in, bringing what forecasters say will be several days of likely rain for the region. So today's 
tenth of an inch all month.
with a
Out at the beaches,
Now this is pretty darm near perfect.
Tuesday's thunderstorms dropped a half-inch here on the WeatherDeck in Cockeysville.


It's
summery day, with highs likely to top out in the 90s. West winds are bringing air down the eastern slope of the mountains, which in addition to heating things up, is also drying them out some. The relative humidity here at The Sun is holding in the 50s, so it doesn't feel quite as miserable as it can at this time of year. It only starts to feel uncomfortably humid when the dewpoint reaches 70 degrees or so.
s were broken, but we're all saving a bundle on our cooling bills.
showers and thunderstorms.
Saturday night, with a 30 percent risk that storms will impact the fireworks. Sunday's forecast, for now, comes with no mention of rain, so if the pyrotechnics are postponed, Sunday should be ideal. (That's what happened in 2007. Sun outdoors writer Candus Thomson snapped the pic at left at the Inner Harbor on the 5th. Amazing.)
1. June 2009 had the fewest 90+ days (zero) since 1979. That's only happened six times since they began keeping official records for the city - in 1886, 1903, 1916, 1972, 1979 and 2009. The average number of 90+ degree days in June in Baltimore is 5.7. Last year we had nine. The record is 18, in 1943.
includes a warning of rip currents this afternoon. If you're on the sand, or headed there, it's worth a read:
suburbs
Raupp tells me that the rainy weather - 19 inches in two-and-a-half months - has provided abundant breeding territory in standing water across the region, and mosquito populations are very high. All it will take now, he says, is for the rain to stop for a time, and the weather to warm up and send the little buggers off searching for a blood meal. It's going to be awful.
e Chesapeake and holding it there. The National Weather Service has issued a
Atlantic air into the region. With that come clouds and 
Sterling radar is showing some new thunderstorms developing to the north and west of the Baltimore area. They are drifting very slowly to the east, and forecasters say we can expect these or others to cross the urban corridor later this evening.
(AT 4:15 p.m.) Strong thunderstorms are bearing down on the Baltimore metro area out of the northwest. Severe
I've never owned a dog, but I can remember when I was a kid, our cat used to make a bee-line for the boot box under the basement stairs whenever he heard thunder (or sirens). There must be a million pet-and-thunder stories out there.
Okay campers, how many of you shut the windows, and switched on the AC today as temperatures drifted up toward 80 under sunny skies for the first time in forever?
But get out there and soak up the sunshine when it finally appears, because next week we fall back into the same old pattern of showers and thunderstorms, on tap for the balance of the work week.
Temperatures at the airport will rise into the upper 80s across the region today as we remain south of a stalled cold front. But communities along the Pennsylvania line and closer to the front may see some afternoon thunderstorms popping up with a risk of large hail, forecasters say.
Looking even farther ahead, the summer promises to be warmer than average for Baltimore and much of the East and Gulf coasts (left), according to the

pressure that delivered the sidewalk cafe weather moves east
The shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven are set for blast off at 2:01 p.m. Looks like today will be the best opportunity for a clean launch of the three days in this week's launch window. Atlantis is headed for a week of repairs and upgrades to the Hubble Space Telescope (photo below).
the state, especially in Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties - more than 1.5 inches. Here are some
Favorable weather at Wallops does not necessarily translate into a clear view from the Baltimore area. But if we get lucky, this rocket could put on quite a show as it roars into the sky and off toward the east with its payload of five satellites bound for orbit. Hayden Planetarium 

The bummer, maybe, is that the front remains stalled just to our south. And that's keeping us in cool air - maybe 15 degrees below the long-term averages for this time of year - and northeast winds are dragging more cool air and moisture in off the Atlantic. If it feels like we're sailing the North Atlantic out there, that's why.
Oh, sure. We do still need rain. The entire state remains "abnormally dry" on this morning's 
By Wednesday we'll be back in the low 70s, and Thursday will stall out in the low 60s as the next cold front slips by and stalls to our south. That will be a 30-degree drop in daytime highs, and it will also bring us better chances for showers for the rest of the week.
Here are
Ya gotta love April in Baltimore. Overnight lows this morning sank well into the 30s across a good deal of the region. There was a low of 37 reported from Towson, with minimums near the freezing mark above the Pennsylvania line and even lower elsewhere to our west.
But by Thursday, like last week, we will break into a warmer and drier pattern, with highs crowding 80 degrees by Saturday. The weekend, at least from this distance, looks much like this past weekend, which was terrific.