New blogger and new blog home
This week Scott Dance joins The Baltimore Sun as its new weather blogger. As other Sun blogs have moved over to a new platform, it's time for Maryland Weather to join them. Starting today Maryland Weather will have updates here.
Dance, a Timonium native, comes to The Sun from the Baltimore Business Journal. He was a regular reader of this blog and was inspired to take a weather-spotting class after Frank Roylance wrote about it.
Learn more about him in his first post and join the conversation. He's eager to hear from regular readers about what they want to see on the blog. You can also follow him on Twitter @MDweather.
From The Sun's print editions:
From the Sun's print editions:
Full moons have a name, several if you take into account contributions from various cultures. The one this month, on Nov. 10, was the Frosty Moon, or Beaver Moon. So why not hang monikers on the new moons, one of which we’ll experience just past midnight? True, you can’t see a new moon, but so what? Raise your hand if you had an imaginary friend as a kid, or even now. What would you call our post-Thanksgiving new moon? How about the one on Dec. 24?
Rain. On the one hand, dismal drizzle in late fall is a harsh reminder that it's time to put away the shorts and flip-flops and trade SPF 30 lotion for a deep moisturizer. On the other hand, it isn't snow. 
It’s always bittersweet to see November arrive. The last leaves drop this month, giving way to the bare branches that stand watch until March. Snow enters the subconscious as the average overnight lows drop to freezing by month’s end; as much as 8 inches has fallen here in November. And the days grow short, with only a month left before the winter solstice. 
equinox and the winter solstice. For many of our ancestors, this evening marked the beginning of winter, the loss of daylight and the sun’s warmth, and the “death” of plant life. 
This is the 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
In September, 10 percent of the lower 48 states was 
At 9 a.m. today, the 
It’s spring in the 
Have you taken a good look at your galaxy lately? You really need to pay more attention to it. And if the skies cooperate, you’ll get another chance this 
The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season is quieter now as we near the end of October. There have been 16 named storms, from Tropical Storm Arlene through Hurricane Philippe. That’s well above the 9.6 seasonal average, and just what Colorado State University forecasters predicted. We’re short on hurricanes, however – just five — a bit below average and well below the 6 to 10 predicted by forecast teams. Irene and Lee caused quite enough excitement here, thanks. The season ends officially Nov. 30. 
That would make this night the 6,015th birthday of, well, everything. 
Global climate averages for September are in. NOAA says global land surface temperatures averaged 1.57 degrees F. above the 20th century norm, the fourth-warmest September since record-keeping began in 1880. (Eastern Asia and the central U.S. were cool.) Ocean surface temperatures were 0.72 degrees F. above the 20th Century average, the 14th warmest on record. The UK had its sixth-warmest September in 100 years. Arctic sea ice shrank to its second-smallest extent since 1979. 
We’ve had earlier snowfalls, but the 1.3-inch storm on 
Don Dobrow
The forecast for Saturday’s Baltimore Running Festival will be sunny, but breezy, with a west wind between 11-21 mph, and gusts up to 31 mph, according to the 
Skiers! The forecast for Enceladus calls for more snow flurries and perfect powder! Where’s Enceladus, you ask? Sadly, this little-visited destination is pretty remote. Enceladus is a moon of Saturn. Scientists working with NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around the planet, reported evidence Monday that plumes of liquid water erupting through the surface have been falling back as snow for tens of millions of years. The powder in some places averages 350 feet deep.
We noted here a few days back that the period from 
online, etc. at any given time or day give different highs/lows, percent of precipitation expected. Don’t all forecasters get the same data from the National Weather Service?”
Just so you know: 
Continuing today with more 
We already know that September has already been 
Dan Swegon, in Fallston, asks: “Why is there so much interest, after the event, as to whether heavy wind was a tornado? Severe windstorms cause damage whether the winds were twisting or straight.”
summer. At 
NASA’s 
Maryland’s count of human cases of West Nile fever has climbed to 11. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene says six cases were diagnosed in Capital Region residents, the other five in Central Marylanders. There have been no deaths. 
Katrina, Hazel, Camille … all terrible hurricanes, and all female names. Someone asked me whether most of the worst storms had female names. 
Astronomer 
Passage of a cold front tonight will make it feel like autumn for a few days in 
Of all the memories we have of 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
John Mitsak
The 
Jeffrey Brauner
Our long, hot (meteorological) summer is over. It was the hottest since, well, last summer. Temperatures at BWI averaged 77.8.0 degrees. That’s well short of last year’s sizzling record of 79.3 degrees, but the eighth-hottest since 1871. 
Still cleaning up downed trees? Are any of them ash trees? The Maryland Emergency Management Agency reminds property owners that the Maryland emerald ash borer quarantine prohibits the transport of ash wood, or mixed wood of unknown species, to the Eastern Shore, over the Susquehanna River or out of state. It can be moved among the quarantined counties. The ash borer, an invasive pest from Asia, is fatal to ash trees. Call 410 841-5920 with questions. 
The National Hurricane Center 
Our very soggy 
The weekly USDA “Weather & Crops” report is in. Irene had an impact on Maryland’s croplands, some good, some bad. The crop reporter said, “Still assessing crop damage from Irene. Corn was mostly affected by winds. There is also a large amount of standing water in fields.” Pasture in “poor” or worse condition fell from 32 percent to 27 percent; corn from 37 to 36 percent, soybeans from 25 to 20 percent. Topsoil rated “short” or “very short” of water fell to 15 percent from 30. 
Is there a good side to a storm like Irene? 
Rain last week gave a boost to 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
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Comets in the news:
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FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Terri Clayman, in Columbia, noticed that the high tide on the Outer Banks was roughly 50 minutes later each day. “We were surprised that there was such a difference in the times. What is the reason?” 
Jo-Ann Orlinsky, in Baltimore, writes: “I have been noticing that during July, the daily records for many days has been 100 degrees or more. I am wondering if there are any days in July where the daily record has not hit 100.” 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Hot-in-Baltimore Contest update: Baltimore (BWI) recorded 36 days of 90-plus heat through Aug. 5, 2011. The new total surpasses the annual average of 29.4 days, with many weeks to go before the risk of such weather dwindles to zero. 
It’s easy to dismiss the risks of hurricane strikes, especially when three years have passed since the last one (Ike) struck the U.S. But the dangers are there every summer, and they’re real. Consider: Eight of the 10 costliest U.S. hurricanes on record have struck in the past 10 years. The third deadliest – Katrina, with at least 1,500 lives lost – was just six years ago. Of the 30 costliest storms, 16 were no stronger than Category 2 hurricanes at landfall, and four were tropical storms.
It was one of Maryland’s worst natural disasters, claiming 17 lives. But few remember after 40 years. Bruce Sullivan does. A senior forecaster at the National Center for Environmental Prediction, he said a line of severe thunderstorms formed along a stalled front over Baltimore and Harford counties on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 1, 1971. They dumped more than 12 inches of rain in six hours. Rivers and creeks flooded. Most of the dead drowned. Scores more needed rescue. 
Don Dobrow, in Baltimore, asks whether this summer, so far, is Baltimore’s hottest. Not yet. Summer 2010 was Baltimore’s hottest. And while last month may have been the city’s hottest July, June 2010 was hotter than June 2011 by more than 3 degrees. 
From the Weather Blog’s “
August arrives
Will August bring us a sharp break in the heat? Forecasters looked at Washington’s five hottest summers, in 1939, 1936, 1980, 1988 and 2010. All but the last saw a “significant” August cool-down. 
A week from tooday, 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Dry weather
As bad as the heat was, and as problematic as the 
Space Cadets! The last shuttle has landed, but the International Space Station sails on. If you’re up early Monday morning, and the weather cooperates, you’ll get a nice view of the ISS as it flies past bright Jupiter, the crescent moon and dim Mars.
“Capt. Jack”
Gene Ricks
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Thunderstorms and tropical storms can cut your electric service for hours, even days. But will your family be safe from spoiled food during an outage? 
Puzzled by all the zeroes under “Heat” in the 
Earthlings today reach out to yet another member of our solar system’s family. 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
The moon is full tonight. As the first full moon since the summer solstice, it’s known to some as the Hay Moon or the Thunder Moon, for reasons that seem clear enough. It’s officially full at 2:38 a.m. EDT - on Friday morning. Moonrise for Baltimore this evening is at 8:06 p.m. EDT. If you’re out on the beaches tonight, look for Luna to peek over the horizon at 7:58 p.m. Out at Deep Creek Lake, you’ll have to wait until at least 8:18 p.m. to see the Thunder Moon rise.
A milestone today for the planet Neptune: Guy Ottewell’s Astronomical Calendar says the eighth planet from the sun was first detected in 1844 by the French astronomer Urbain Leverrier. He calculated its likely position based on irregularities in the motion of the seventh planet, Uranus, discovered in 1781. 
A new study seems to confirm that 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
A friend recently forwarded an email message alerting me to a calendar rarity: “This year, July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. This happens once every 823 years.” Pretty cool, except that it’s not true. 
Rainfall in Baltimore in 
Among all the other things he became famous for, 
July arrives at midnight, the 
Space Cadets! Wednesday night should be mostly clear, a good opportunity to see the 
David Blumberg
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
A newly-discovered 
Joe Bollinger, in Glen Burnie, asks: “What time did twilight begin and end on June 21st, and is the length of twilight the same on the winter solstice?” Civil Twilight begins when the center of the sun’s disk is 6 degrees below the horizon, and ends when it’s 6 degrees below the horizon after sunset. 
John Polyniak, in Lake Shore, asks: “What month has the most daylight (sunrise to sunset)? I know it’s either June or July.” It’s June, as you might expect, given that the longest day of the year comes at the summer solstice, June 21. Daylight in Baltimore on June 1 lasts 14 hours, 45 minutes. It rises to 14:56 from the 16th to the 26th, then diminishes to 14:54 by July 1. By the end of July, there are just 14 hours, 14 minutes of daylight here. Even so, average daily temperatures peak in mid-July. 
Tonight is 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
We often forget about our cousins in the southern hemisphere. There’s more ocean down there, after all, so less land and fewer people. And their seasons are, well, all wrong. For them, today marks the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and the start of another winter. 
Tom Kusterer, in Ellicott City, writes: “Why doesn’t The Baltimore Sun’s weather page list [Washington] D.C. in its United States cities’ weather and temperature listings, or for that matter, anywhere on The Sun’s weather page?” That other burg down the road? Actually, we do show their temperature forecast on the Maryland map. And, being just 35 miles away, their weather is much like ours. We could add D.C. to the national forecast, but which city to delete? Okay, maybe Pittsburgh...
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Rising with the sun is a real chore in June. Tomorrow’s 
Weather can humble you, even after you’re dead. On July 1, 1925, 
Alert reader Menalcus Lankford wrote to say that our print weather map for Maryland “seems quite confused about Oakland in Garrett County.” The temperature forecasts we’ve been reporting are much higher than for nearby towns. “Please correct these … absurd predictions.” We checked, and sure enough, AccuWeather.com has been posting forecasts for the wrong Oakland, Md. Turns out there are five, in Anne Arundel, Carroll, Caroline, Garrett and Prince George’s counties. It’s been fixed. 
Donald Gansauer
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Jane Buxton Brown
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
If you drink, shower, shave or splash in water from the 
June arrives at midnight tonight. The sixth month brings the earliest sunrise of the year (June 14), the longest day (with the solstice, June 21), and the latest sunset (June 28). Average high temperatures for Baltimore rise from 79 degrees to 86, while average lows move from 57 to 64 degrees. Our wettest June (9.95 inches) came with Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972; our driest was in 1954 (0.15 inch). BWI-Marshall Airport set four daily record highs in June last year, and twice topped 100 degrees. 
the Republic, designating 
Do 
Space Cadets! I know you’re just dying to pop out of bed at 4 on a Sunday morning to see the 
Today is “Don’t Fry Day,” designated by the EPA and the National Council on Skin Cancer to remind Americans to protect themselves and their kids from too much sun.
reached 98 degrees. That set a new record for May in Baltimore. It’s been matched three times since then – in 1941, 1962 and again in 1991. 
Russell Loy
As incessantly rainy as it has seemed, May just does not look all that bad on paper. Officially, at BWI-Marshall Airport, the rain total through Thursday totaled 2.33 inches. That’s actually 0.02 inch below the long-term average for the month to that date. Sure, there were rainouts, tornadoes, and 11 days (out of 19) with at least a trace of rain. But we also had that beautiful week, from the 8th through the 12th, with glorious sunshine and highs in the 70s. Ah, how quickly we forget.
Sick of all the showers and thunderstorms yet? Well, imagine a 
All these showers and clouds have made it easy to forget there are still stars out there. Guy Ottewell’s Astronomical Calendar reminds us that in May, the disk of the Milky Way – our spiral galaxy – lies flat around the horizon. That makes it hard to see. But late on May evenings, if you walk toward the constellation Cygnus the Swan, in the northeast, you are traveling in the same direction our solar system is orbiting around the galaxy. The galaxy’s center is 25,000 light years to your right. 
Donald Gansauer
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
As if floods and tornadoes weren’t enough, residents of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and parts of the Deep South are also dealing this spring with cicadas. It’s Brood XIX of the 
Plan to be up early Wednesday morning? If skies stay clear, find a
spot with a good view of the eastern horizon and plant yourself there 45 minutes before sunrise (which occurs about 6 a.m. for Baltimore). The two brightest star-like objects in the sky – the planets Venus (the brighter of the pair) and Jupiter – will rise less than a degree apart. Mercury is just below and to the right; Mars farther away, to the left. Take binoculars. Had a good report on the spectacle from my South Africa correspondent. Here's 
The new hurricane season opens in 3 1/2 weeks, and we’ve heard forecasters calling for an “active” summer and fall. 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Mercury, Venus and Jupiter stand within a narrow circle 30 minutes before dawn in the coming week. It’s part of a complex dance by four of the five naked-eye planets, playing out low in the east each morning this month. They’ll be difficult, or impossible to see without a clear view of the eastern horizon and a haze-free morning. It’s a tall order. Binoculars will help. The two brightest – Jupiter and Venus - will be less than a degree apart on the 11th and 12th, and still close through the 16th. 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Some readers were surprised by the number of tornadoes confirmed in Maryland and Virginia in the wake of last week’s storms – up to 11 at last check, including four in Maryland. Outbreaks like that are uncommon here. 
April delivered more than 3.5 inches of rain, well above the 3.0-inch norm for what is, statistically, the driest month of the year in Baltimore. Most of it (1.29 inches) fell on one day – that stormy Saturday, the 16th. The longest stretch of rain was from the 22nd through the 25th, with 0.83 inch over four days. All this water helped keep the region’s three reservoirs topped off at 100 percent of capacity. Temperatures were also well above average, with seven days reaching the 80s. 
Today is Beltane, one of four “cross-quarter” days on the year’s calendar – halfway between the equinox and the solstice. Guy Ottewell’s Astronomical Companion says we can consider the date to be mid-spring. But others in our collective past regarded it as the first day of summer. The summer solstice, the sun’s highest point in the northern sky, marked mid-summer. Beltane was celebrated with bonfires, as were many Celtic festivals. May Pole dances and May Day marches followed. 
temperatures
Need a break next week? How about taking a mental health day May 3 and driving down to the Patuxent River Naval Air Station for a look at NOAA’s “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft. The agency is offering public tours of the four-engine, turbo-prop Lockheed WP-3D “Orion” airplane used to collect data by flying through hurricanes. Speaking of mental health … Anyway, tours run from 1:30 to 4 p.m. You must register by May 2 to get base access. For more: 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Forecasters warned that the springtime after a La Nina winter typically comes with lots of tornadoes. It seems they may be right. AccuWeather.com forecasters predict April 2011 will end Saturday with something close to the record 267 twisters confirmed in April 1974. Meteorologists are still sorting out duplicate reports, but the estimated total for the year through Sunday was 766, in two dozen states, with two months left in the peak season. The record is 1,817 tornadoes, set in 2004. 
Regular visitors to this page, if they glance at the Astronomical Data section above, may have noticed that five of the seven heavenly bodies listed are all rising between about 5:20 and 6:30 a.m. EDT. 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
As forbidding as the North Atlantic can be, 2,224 people aboard the 
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Baltimore, you’ve made it. Today is the 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Just as spring gets rolling in Earth’s northern hemisphere, the northern half of Mars tonight marks the beginning of winter. The Martian winter solstice occurs at 11 p.m. EDT tonight. 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
What was it about the April weather in Baltimore in 1874 and 1875? Official record-keeping here had only begun a few years earlier, in 1871. But in those two years alone we established nine weather records that have not been broken in the 135 Aprils since. Mostly it was the cold – record lows (in the 20s and 30s) on five dates, and record-low daily highs (in the 30s and 40s) on three dates. The string of records was capped on April 29, 1875 with a 2.5-inch rainstorm. 
Carl Yowell, in Woodstock, writes: “Is there a web site which will give me daily, monthly and year-to-date rainfall totals for my local area?” The best one I know of is the CoCoRaHS Network (
Saturn is at opposition
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
unseasonably cool and drippy weather. We did reach a record high of 81 degrees, after all, on the 18th. And half the days did average above the norm for Baltimore. 
It could have been worse. Today is the 
Can you imagine living for six months aboard the 
Need some quality time with the kids? Try the 
John Hasler writes from Sparks with a question: “When is the last day in spring, on record, when there has been a measurable snowfall in Baltimore?” At the risk of tempting the weather gods … The latest measurable snow for Baltimore was the 0.1-inch that fell on April 28, 1898. But the latest in this century was a 0.2-inch dusting on April 7, 2007 – just four years ago. We’ve had traces of snow as late as May 11, in 1951. The most recent May flakes fell on May 1, 1963.
ample rains. Liberty, Prettyboy and Loch Raven held 75.85 billion gallons, well above the 66.25-billion-gallon average for this time of year, public works officials said. 
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One of the greatest nor’easters on record struck 49 years ago today. The 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Donald Gansauer, in Canton, asks: “Have we had an above-average number of days with wind advisories this past winter?” Unfortunately, that’s not a statistic the National Weather Service routinely tracks. But when I asked, Steve Zubrick, at NWS-Sterling, produced another pretty nifty wind statistic. 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
If pre-dawn skies are clear, early risers Monday will be greeted by a beautiful pairing of the 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Emily Johnston
Space Cadets! The International Space Station is back in our evening skies, with several viewing opportunities, weather permitting. The first is Sunday evening. Look to the south southwest at 6:42 p.m. as the ISS passes over North Florida and zips up the East Coast over Hatteras. At 6:45 it will be halfway up the southeastern sky, passing through Orion’s feet before hustling off to the east northeast and disappearing at 6:47 p.m. Look for ISS again at 7:08 p.m. Monday, moving west southwest to north northeast. 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
The moon rises over Baltimore tonight at 5:19 p.m., and is officially full at 3:36 a.m. Friday. The second full moon since the winter solstice is the 
Here’s one I’d never heard of: The 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Happy Valentine’s Day! Sometimes taking a fresh look at an old acquaintance can lead to something exciting. That’s NASA’s hope today as its Stardust spacecraft makes a pass at Comet Tempel 1. Scientists got their first good look in 2005, when another craft, called Deep Impact (on a mission led by the University of Maryland), flew by and tried to stir something up with a smooch from an 820-pound copper projectile. Now they want to see if the comet has changed since its spin around the sun. 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Don Dobrow
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A year ago today Marylanders were braced for another
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Punxsutawney Phil
The 
Jeffrey Brauner
John Fausto writes from Freeland: “One day last week I woke up and … saw that the humidity was 4% and the temperature was 11 degrees …Could this be possible, as it would indicate a very dry (desert) condition.” That’s one bone-dry martini. Those numbers suggest a dew point of 50-below zero. Maybe you were dreaming. Or your bleary eyes missed a digit alongside the 4. Or maybe your instrument was set to read out the “dew point” in degrees, instead of “relative humidity” in percent.
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Everybody complains about the weather, but too few of us do anything about it. Now you can. 
Yes, that was a full moon last night. It was the first since the winter solstice, so that makes it the Moon After Yule, or the Old Moon. 
Ike, from Jarrettsville, asks via snail mail: “In what part of the world does the day begin? If it’s 5 a.m. in Rome, then five hours east would put the beginning somewhere in Asia. I’m guessing China.” Nope. The calendar date begins wherever it’s midnight, and midnight circles the globe daily, east to west. A Sunday becomes a Monday in the mid-Pacific if you cross the International Date Line, east to west. That happens at whatever hour you cross. 
Dennis Ferguson, writes from Easton: “In childhood, we learned that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Over the years, I’ve noticed that that sun doesn’t always rise (or set) in the same place … What would account for this?” It’s the 23.4-degree tilt in Earth’s axis. For thousands of years, humans have noted that the sun only rises due east at the spring and autumn equinoxes. Rise and set points slip south in winter, north in summer, creating our seasons.
Monday is Jan. 10, 2011. In numerical notation, it’s 
Leonard Frankford writes from Pikesville: “With all the recent rain in southern California, I was wondering if any of it has reached Death Valley, which is normally so dry. If so, how much rain did it get?” Precious little. The total for December at Death Valley was 0.86 inch. Most of that (0.72 inch) fell in a four-day stretch from Dec. 20-23. On the other hand, their average December rainfall is only 0.19 inch. So, at four times the norm, it really was a soaking.
using the Julian calendar. By that reckoning, today is Dec. 25. The “modern” Gregorian calendar was promulgated in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. The update was needed to keep the Western church calendar in step with the seasons by imposing a new leap year system. Most Western countries had adopted it by the 18th century. The Julian calendar has now fallen 13 days behind the Gregorian. 
Cheer up! Sunrise today was a few seconds earlier than yesterday. Our daylight hours are now increasing at both ends of the day. That’s because 
Our planet is at 
The second decade of the third millennium begins today. Sirius, the brightest true star in the sky, crosses the meridian – its highest point in the sky - at midnight tonight. You can find Sirius (the “Dog Star”) in the east after 9 p.m. Trace a line through the three stars of Orion’s belt, southeastward to Sirius. It’s bright because it’s close – “only” 8.8 light years from Earth. It’s orbited once in 50 years by a faint companion star, nicknamed “the Pup.” 
January arrives with the new year tonight. It’s the coldest month of the year, averaging 32.2 degrees at BWI-Marshall. The coldest days of the year fall at mid-month, when the average highs bottom out at 41, and the lows at 23 degrees. It’s the snowiest month, too, averaging 7.0 inches. The snowiest January at BWI was in 1996, with 32.6 inches. And the snowiest day on record for Baltimore was Jan. 28, 1922, with 23.3 inches. That three-day storm left 26.5 inches. 
On Tuesday, Dec. 21, we will hit the 
Thanks to the many weather page readers who have sent us their suggestions for the things they’d like to see included on our new, expanded print weather page. The debut is still about a month away, and we’re still tweaking the design. But it appears the new, half-page, color weather display will include better graphics, a national weather map, degree-day totals, rise-and-set times for the visible planets, and more of the features you asked for. 
Cheer up! Your days will soon brighten – at least in the afternoon. Last night witnessed the 
Will BWI see snow today? Not likely. But it has on six of the eight Dec. 5ths since 2002. Steve Zubrick, science officer at the NWS forecast office in Sterling, Va., checked the records and found we’ve recorded an inch or more of snow on nine Dec. 5ths since 1892, more than any other date in December. And there’s NEVER been an inch of snow on a Dec. 7 in that period. But statistical tests found the Dec. 5 spike appears to be due to nothing more than chance. 
Hungry for some real brain food? And maybe some laughs? 
Earl Needhammer
December arrives on Wednesday. It’s a busy month. The year’s earliest sunset occurs on the 8th as Sol drops below Baltimore’s western horizon at 4:43 p.m. The annual Geminid meteor shower – one of the year’s best if skies are clear - peaks on the night of the 13/14th. The fourth full moon of the season rises at 4:13 p.m. EST, on the 20th, only to be darkened by a total lunar eclipse. The eclipse begins at 1:32 a.m. on the 21st, and is total from 2:40 to 3:54 a.m. The winter solstice arrives later the same day, at 6:42 p.m. 
Donald Gansauer
The 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season ends next Wednesday. In May, NOAA forecast an “active to extremely active” season. Forecasters predicted 14-23 storms, with 8-14 hurricanes, 3-7 reaching Cat. 3. Well done. The National Hurricane Center named 19 storms, from Alex to Tomas. Only two names – Virginie and Walter – went unused. Of those, 12 reached hurricane strength. Five reached “major” (Cat. 3) status or higher - Danielle, Earl, Igor, Julia and Karl. Happily, none made direct landfall on the U.S. mainland. 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Early risers have begun asking me about that bright object they’re seeing in the eastern sky just before dawn as November moves toward a close. It’s the planet Venus, rising now a little before 5 a.m., well before the sun. It is near its maximum brightness next week and dominates everything in that part of the sky. But it’s not alone. Just to the right, and a little above Venus is the bright star Spica, in the constellation Virgo. And just above Venus and Spica is pale yellow Saturn. 
Jeff Brauner
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
A few wintry nuggets from NWS meteorologist 
It’s that time again – time to turn your clocks back an hour and capture a little more morning daylight under Eastern Standard Time. The switch occurs at 2 a.m. Sunday, giving us an extra hour’s sleep. But it also means we repeat the 1 o’clock hour. 
Sue Baker
Bob Ercole
Jeff Brauner, in Baltimore, noticed that the record high for an Oct. 25 in Baltimore is just 77 degrees. “All other October dates are at least 5 degrees higher, well into the 80s … Could this be an error?” I doubt it. Set in 1931, it’s October’s coolest record high. But it’s likely just an outlier, occurring two weeks before daily record highs are routinely in the upper 70s. It happens. The March 11 record is 75 degrees, surrounded by upper 70s and 80s. And the Jan. 14-15 records are 78 and 79 degrees, surrounded by 60s and low 70s. 
Jane Buxton Brown
summer. The Drought Monitor map for Maryland shows the portion of the state still in official drought declined from 33 percent to just 15 percent this month. 
We tied a 
Space Cadets! Sure, it’s hard to get up early on a Saturday. But if the dog or the kids get you up before dawn, and skies are clear, step outside for five minutes with your tax dollars and the International Space Station.
Eighty-eight years ago this evening it began raining in Baltimore. Twelve hours later, 5.18 inches had fallen, erasing the two-foot shortage left at Loch Raven Reservoir by a late summer drought. But an overflowing Jones Falls flooded the Folly Theater cellar, soaking performers’ trunks, The Sun reported. Sewers backed up into basements. Rain gushed through a hole in the roof at Hecht Bros. store on So. Broadway. And a cave-in on E. Biddle flooded a cellar filled with broom straw. 
It looks like skies will be clear and dry tonight. Why not make it an evening of stargazing? The observatory on the Dundalk campus of the Community College of Baltimore County is holding another public observing session from 8 to 10 p.m. 
Bob Anbinder
Space Cadets! Get your binoculars and telescopes ready. Amateur astronomers are gearing up for a look at 
October
Tom Campbell
Joe Bollinger
The planet 
Some say the news media “hype” the hurricane season forecasts each year, playing to unwarranted fears. Here’s some food for thought. Data compiled by 
Mid-season hurricane update: We’ve had 11 named storms so far, including five hurricanes, four of which reached “major” Cat. 3 (and 4) strength. We’re passing the full-seasonal average. (Forecasters all predicted an “active” year, with roughly 18 named storms, 10 hurricanes and five “major” storms.) 
Jeff Brauner
September at last
The heat is expected to return to Central Maryland this week, with forecast highs in the 90-degree range for Sunday and Monday. So far BWI has recorded 49 days of 90-plus heat this year. That ties 1930 for the fourth-highest tally of 90-degree weather for Baltimore. Three years saw 50 days (1943, 1966, 1991), and two saw 51 (1941, 1995), according to Steve Zubrick at the National Weather Service. The record is 54 days at 90 degrees or more, set in 1988.
It’s official. July 2010 tied with July 1995 as the hottest month on record for Baltimore, with an average temperature of 81.5 degrees. For a time, it appeared that July 1872 should also be included. But the National Climatic Data Center has reviewed original data and found the true average for that month was 81.2 degrees, not 81.5 degrees as reported on a weather service web site. This year has now seen Baltimore’s hottest month, snowiest month and snowiest winter. 
today, with some rain showers and thunderstorms. Daytime highs this week should hold in the mid-80s, which is only a shade above the long-term averages. 
Today’s stargazing lesson: Finding the 
August, at last! 
Nino Sciuto
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Fred Rasmussen, chief of the Obit Dept. here at The Sun, was awake one night recently watching “heat lightning” as it flickered near the horizon. He wondered what causes these silent light shows. 
Don Gansauer writes from Canton: “Can the smoke from the burning off of the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico be seen in the satellite photos?” If they can see the car in your driveway, they can sure see a miles-long smoke plume. There is a good image in a terrific oil spill gallery at “The Big Picture,” at Boston.com: 
Bill Fisher
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS: 
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS: 
The full moon rises over Baltimore this evening at 8:59 p.m. It’s the first full moon since the summer solstice, making it the Hay Moon, or the Thunder Moon. If it seems unusually low in the sky late at night, that’s because, around the solstice, the sunward side of the planet’s northern hemisphere is tilted 23.4 degrees toward the sun. And because the moon stands opposite the sun when it’s full, that means the full moon is “low” in the night sky in June for the same reason that the midday sun is “high” in the sky. 
The 
Donald Gansauer, in Canton, asks: “Is there any evidence that hailstorms occur more in rural areas than urban areas?” There is, but then most of our land mass is rural. Using data from the National Climatic Data Center, RiskMeter.com mapped 18 years of hail reports. The highest risk fell between the Rockies and the Mississippi, where most of the land is open plains. But cities there are vulnerable, too. The highest urban hail risk in the U.S. is in Amarillo, Tulsa and Wichita. 
Harry E. Bennett, Jr
Dennis Barnes
If evening skies clear in the next week or so, we’ll see a nice 
conjunction of the planet Mars (left) with the bright star Regulus (right). They will make a striking couple, less than a degree apart by this weekend. Look just to the left of due west after dark and halfway up the sky. 
The full moon that rose over Baltimore at 8:33 last night is the third since the spring equinox. That makes it