Watch CBS News

BLOG: The Temps Shall Swing

Although it was another chilly day, we made it into the 50s.  We officially topped out at 51 degrees this afternoon.  We all know that it's been chilly lately, but wait until you hear some of these stats.  We have been well below average since March 23.  That is 11 days.  And in those 11 days, 9 have been in the 40s with only 2 in the 50s - March 29 at 52 degrees and today at 51 degrees.  It's hard to remember, but the average high is now 60 degrees.  If you like the warmth, be patient because we have some big temperature swings coming our way the next few days.

There is a huge trough in the jet stream dug out over the Northeast.  It's this trough that has supported all of the chilly air coming down from Canada.  But this trough also supports a very unstable atmosphere.  So the sunshine that tried to break out today just led to clouds immediately building back up, which led to those clouds producing showers.  The showers were scattered about and since the atmospheric freezing layer is so low, the showers mixed with sleet at times.  As the sun sets, all of those showers will die down. 

The trough will lift out of the Northeast overnight, giving us a brief break in the stormy weather pattern.  Expect sunshine tomorrow and temperatures to start climbing. We will still be below the average of 60, but very close to it tomorrow afternoon. That's also when clouds will start to move back into the Mid-Atlantic as the next storm moves our way. 

This next storm is a big one both in strength and size. The warm front part of the storm will extend out ahead of the main center of energy. It will bring clouds and some light rain or drizzle through Maryland Sunday night into the first half of Monday. When that warm front clears us, not only will it give us a break in the rain but also bring in much warmer air - and I mean much warmer. Temperatures will spike up into the 70s. Even if you aren't going, you are probably aware that the O's home opener is Monday. A rotating crew of us will be down at the ballpark all day long between the morning show, the noon, our 2 p.m. pre-game special, and the 4-7 p.m. news hours.  So we are obviously watching this one with extra care!  So this is where it gets tricky. Warm fronts are stubborn and don't always just move on like you want them to. If the warm front clears us by game time, we will have some sunshine and quickly climb into the 70s through the game. If the warm front hangs a little longer, the rain, drizzle and clouds could hang through some of the game. That would also halt out big warm-up. Regardless, it looks like the warm front will clear us eventually and we warm up with some sun returning Monday. 

Then, temperatures will not drop much Monday night with the very strong cold front on the way.  This front will produce a widespread severe weather outbreak through the Midwest and Gulf Coast states Monday.  It will weaken somewhat before moving our way, but could still produce strong thunderstorms and severe weather overnight Monday through early Tuesday morning when it marches across Maryland.  It will move away Tuesday, taking the big warm up with it and bringing in much cooler air. Temperatures may actually fall throughout the afternoon Tuesday. 

Unlike the last few storms, this round of cool air is not going to linger. We will climb right back up to near average on Wednesday and then back to the upper 60s on Thursday. Another storm will move our way sometime Thursday night into Friday with the chance for some rain or thunderstorms.  As of now, it looks like the warmer air will linger into next weekend.

Have a good weekend everyone!

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.