WEATHER BLOG: Warm Saturday, Even Warmer Sunday

A big time warm started around the Mid-Atlantic today. Highs jumped into the 70s. However, a warm front moving through tonight will bring even warmer air our way for Sunday and Monday.

Clouds from the front have overspread the state this evening, then the rain will follow. There is a band of rain and thunderstorms moving into western Maryland around 6 PM. It will weaken as it moves east, but will hold together enough for some rain or a thunderstorm tonight. Clouds and maybe even a few showers will hang around through the morning before this front lifts off to the north. When that happens, sunshine will take over and the temperature climb will begin.

We are looking at highs in the 80s Sunday and then upper 80s on Monday. The record for Sunday is 88 degrees from 1941, and on Monday it's 90 degrees from 2002. The cold front part of the storm will come through Monday night/Tuesday and knock temperatures down, but they will still be above average for most of the week.

This cold front is really beating up the Midwest with numerous, long lived tornadoes. There will be another round of severe weather with it again Sunday, before it weakens as it moves east. There could be a couple of thunderstorms for Maryland when it passes through Monday night/Tuesday, but nothing like what we are seeing out to the west.

Another two weak fronts will swing through Wednesday and again Thursday. There is the chance for showers with both of these. Hopefully we can get something out of all these fronts since we are so dry around here.

On a sidenote, the name Irene has been retired by the National Hurricane Center. If you are unfamiliar with the naming process, there is a pre-set list of names through six years. When a storm is incredibly large or destructive, they retire the name so that it is not used again. A new name with the same letter and gender is then added to the recurring list for future storms. Here is the story.