BLOG: Dry And Windy

The soaking rain that occurred Tuesday afternoon and early Tuesday night only lasted for about four or five hours in any given spot. However, it came down heavily for a while, and some wind gusts in the greater Baltimore area exceeded 30 mph. The strongest wind gusts in the region actually occurred in southern Connecticut, and a handful of them were in the 60-65 mph range. Rainfall totals in Maryland were mostly between 0.50 and 1.00" -- which pushes the BWI airport to 56.52 inches so far for the year to date.

The big story, now that the rain has ended, will be the gusty winds. While these gusts probably won't be quite as strong as those that occurred Tuesday, some will still be clocked at around 35 or 40 miles per hour. The storm that was responsible for that rain is still in the process of intensifying over eastern Canada, so the strong pressure gradient is what will essentially provide us with Wednesday's strong, northwest winds. There will be some sunshine, and temperatures will be mostly in the 40s Wednesday afternoon. We'll continue to keep an eye on the regional radar mosaic, but it appears that the bulk of the precipitation (flurries and snow showers) will be confined to areas well to the west of the coastal plain, and primarily downwind of lakes Erie and Ontario. Under a mainly clear sky Wednesday night with a gradually diminishing wind, it will turn out cold with most temperatures winding up in the 20s. There should be a fair amount of sunshine early Thursday, then it will tend to fade behind increasing clouds during the afternoon.