After the clouds and rain Weds., 74 on Friday

We always look forward to Fridays, but this week there's an added bonus - a forecast of partly sunny skies and a high of 74 degrees. That would be our first foray into the 70s since Feb. 18, and only our third day this year with highs that warm.

So if you have a day off due, and you want to hit the trail, or the links, or the park, Friday looks like your day.

But first we'll have to deal with another round of rain late Tuesday into Wednesday, and highs no better than the 50s. The clouds start moving in from the north later today. Showers may start to break out Tuesday afternoon, picking up overnight and leaving a quarter- to a half-inch before ending sometime Wednesday morning.

That rain will come on top of the 3.69 inches already this month, and would put us close to, or over the average rainfall for March, which is 3.93 inches at BWI.

The storm is brewing today (Monday) in the Mississippi Valley, and will begin increasing our cloud cover in the next 24 hours as the high-pressure system that brought us fine weekend weather moves east.

Once the high is offshore on Tuesday, the rain will begin moving in from the southwest. Baltimoreans can expect the showers to start after 3 p.m. Tuesday, picking up overnight and ending by noon Wednesday, forecasters say.

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Then the sunshine returns, and temperatures climb toward the 74-degree high forecast for Friday. Another cold front slips by late Friday, dropping weekend highs back into the more seasonable 50s. But the sunshine should remain, if forecasters have it right.

The spring equinox arrives on Sunday, marking the official start of spring.

(SUN PHOTO: Kenneth K. Lam, March 2008)

After the clouds and rain Weds., 74 on Friday

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