High pressure continues to depart the area Easter Sunday as clouds increase across the area. Showers will overspread much of central Maryland and northern Maryland by mid to late afternoon with widespread heavy rain developing overnight. Off to our south Flash Flood Watches are already up for a good chunk of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee where our weather is coming from.

These areas could see 3-6"+ worth of rainfall on top of a big time severe weather outbreak that includes long track tornadoes, large hail, and damaging winds. For that reason the Storm Prediction Center has place these area under a "Level 4 Moderate Risk" for severe weather with the potential of a rare "High Risk" to be issued Sunday as new model runs come in. For us the risk is a "Level 1" marginal at this time as storms stay embedded in pockets of heavy rain late Sunday into the wee hours of Monday morning.

The real severe weather show doesn't get going here in Maryland until Monday morning. Throughout the day Saturday (April 11th, 2020) models continued to indicate a growing threat of severe weather during the mid Monday morning time-frame. A strong low level jet aloft at 5,000 ft and a pretty potent frontal boundary coming in from the west to provide the lift to get things going. You combine these two things with dew-points in the 50s and 60s and air temperatures punching toward 80 degrees to get most of the ingredients necessary for severe weather to develop.

We could be looking at a line of storms mid Monday morning similar to what we had with the tornado outbreak February 7th, 2020. The line will most likely feature limited thunder and lightning while packing damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. This will be a widespread threat so now is the time to prepare. Have batteries in a flashlight and a plan of action ready to go for when a warning is issued. Keep your cellphone charge and make sure to activate the WEA (Emergency Alerts) which can be found in the settings tab under messaging on both your Apple and Android devices.

Storms should be through by midday with a secondary round of action to follow into the early afternoon. This round will be less severe but will pack the primary threat out of all this mess which is wind. High Wind Watches are already up to our west and est as a result with an expansion to a High Wind Warning area-wide most likely late Sunday into Monday.

Severe storms will have winds up to 60-80mph but behind the front we could see a sustained period of time with gusts of 60-70 mph through Monday afternoon and early Monday evening. Now this is not set in stone of course since we are a day out from the event but confidence is growing. While preparing for severe weather Sunday please take the time to tie down any loose items outdoors especially trash cans and patio furniture so they do not end up in your neighbors yard or even down the street.

Wind gusts will die down slowly Monday night with breezy and chillier conditions come Tuesday. There is even a chance at some rain and snow Tuesday night in to Wednesday and then again Wednesday night into Thursday as our potent trough of cold air digs in. Welcome to the wild swings of Spring folks, it's gonna be a bumpy ride into the middle of April but will get through. Stay tuned for further updates as models continue to change on this impending weather event.

-Meteorologist Erik Taylor

March comes to an end as the 4th warmest month on record in Baltimore with 5 days recording highs in the 70s and 80s. We now flip the page to April but instead of the warmth we are looking at much more seasonable condition. Today it was all about "Fool's Cold" with highs in the 50s and overnight lows expected in the 30s. Hey, at least we didn't have snow like the western Maryland mountains and high country of West Virginia. Now that would have been a joke!!

High temperatures don't really climb too much over the next few days with highs in the 50s to around 60 degrees. This is all do in part to a large dip in the jetstream and our recent coastal storm spinning out over the open waters of the Atlantic.

A strong blocking high pressure system up around Greenland has put us in this "cool" holding pattern keeping storms systems blocked to the south and west along with any warm air getting on in. The pattern doesn't look to break until about Sunday as the warm air slowly starts to returns. Highs will be back in the mid 60s at this point with numbers closer to 70 degrees come early next week.

Overall the weather pattern remains dry for the next 6-10 days . Temperatures are below normal during this stretch but as we hit mid April the trend will be back toward the above average side of things. In the 7 day forecast Monday and Tuesday are great examples of this. Highs will be back around 70 degrees with increasing chances for showers.

With a relatively dry weather pattern over the next several days ahead allergy sufferers beware. Tree pollen is very high right now especially Maple, Poplar, and Elm. Limited rain and warm conditions in the month of March have created an early bloom and what looks to be an extended pollen season. Look for the yellow pollen film far and wide on a neighborhood car-top near you. Stay tuned!!!

We continue to play the game of hopscotching fronts around here in Maryland. One day it's nice and the next is nasty. Truly a general weather theme that has been going on for much of March and is no different this weekend (March 28-29th, 2020). Many locations woke up to showers and storms Saturday morning as a warm frontal boundary waivers across the area.

The front provided many local gardens and lawns up to 1" of rain this mornings with leftover drizzle and fog into the afternoon hours. Temperatures also not budging a whole lot with 40s and 50s north of the boundary and near 70 degree readings to the south around Richmond, VA. Once again another nasty day in Maryland.

The front though will slowly lift back to the north overnight with temperatures likely rising by early Sunday morning. As the front comes north more patchy fog is likely before the sunshine breaks through Sunday midday especially in areas south of Baltimore. These locations could touch 80 degrees or better while areas north of I-70 and toward the PA/MD line get stuck in the 60s/70 depending on overall placement of the front. A mix of sun and clouds is guaranteed through mid afternoon before the cold front arrives.

Scattered showers and storms are likely to develop along the boundary but severe weather remains at a minimum with most of the overall energy well off to our north and west into Canada. Timeline right now for storm development looks to be between 2-6pm Sunday. Even with that said some of the storms could pack a punch with wind gusts upwards of 40 mph, an isolated tornado, and vivid lightning concerns. So if you hear the roar while practicing social distancing outdoors it's time to head inside. Storms look to be quick with clearing by late evening into the overnight hours.

Wind will become an issue with gusts of 25-35 mph behind the front going into early next week. Westerly flow will bring us cooler and drier air starting Monday as highs fall back into the mid 60s. Sunny skies will be back on the menu and look to continue into the first half of Tuesday as high pressure moves through.

Clouds will increase late though as another wet weather-maker rolls our way. Most of this storm system will be off to our south with rain Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Temperatures will suffer as a result with highs back into the upper 40s and low to mid 50s midweek. April Fool's cold will continue on as long range 8-14 day trends suggest additional shots of cold air pouring in. Highs Thursday and Friday look to remain in the mid to upper 50s with much of the same for the weekend ahead.

All of this goes back to our negative NAO signal. This signal is a big factor when it comes to cold air pouring down into the eastern half of the country. If your a snow lover of course you would want to see this in Winter not Spring especially for those already planting into the garden. The jetstream looks to remain pushed to our south as a result unloading unseasonably cool conditions at least through mid April before we see another rebound. Besides the chill drier than average conditions look likely in the long range which mean more nice days compared to nasty ones even if you need a sweater. Stay tuned as the "Weather Roller Coaster" remains full steam ahead.

A "Dense Fog Advisory" remains in effect through 4pm this afternoon for all of Central Maryland and the Eastern Shore. Visibility is down around a mile or less in most locations. Warmer air in the form of temperatures above 40 degrees rolling in over top of a cold surface below are allowing the cloud on the ground to persist well into the afternoon. It literally looks like we are swimming in a sea of "Pea Soup." Allow some extra time in your commute today and remember the low beams.

Visibility should improve as we get into the evening hours as winds pick up out ahead of the frontal boundary. This front will bring in colder and drier air to kick off the middle of the workweek ahead. Stay tuned!!

The last few days weather-wise have been quite typical in and around Central Maryland. Temperatures have sat near seasonable averages despite the clouds and humidity has remained quite oppressive. Showers and thunderstorms have also been the norm during the afternoon hours which is typical of a late summertime theme. Not much changed today as high temperatures climbed into the mid to upper 80s with a few passing showers rolling through. More passing showers are expected overnight as a few frontal boundaries remained stalled across the area.

Like the last couple of days Thursday brings similar weather conditions. High temperatures will once again top out in the mid to upper 80s with additional spotty storms in the afternoon hours.

The pattern looks to change though for the weekend ahead. The jet-stream starts to lift back to the north come Friday allowing southerly flow to blow hotter air in. At the same time high pressure will nudge in from the north cutting down on those shower and storm chances. High temperatures on Saturday and Sunday could hop 90 degrees with feel like numbers close to 100 courtesy of the excess humidity. Pollen counts will also be very high for grass and ragweed sufferers.

Hot weather continues into the beginning of next week with highs topping 90 degrees Monday and Tuesday before a return to storms midweek. Feel like numbers during this period still likely to be close to 100 as the humidity does not look to go anywhere anytime soon. Hey if your tired of the heat and humidity just put this into the thought bank, the official start of Fall is only 40 days away.