70s and breezy for Opening Day; storms by midnight

But as the high-pressure center that brought us such welcome sunshine on Sunday moves out over the Atlantic Sunday night, it will be replaced by low pressure moving into the Great Lakes.

That will draw a warm front north during the day and, along with a strong April sun, will drive our afternoon temperatures into the 70s on strong southerly breezes. Some locations could see the upper 70s to near 80 degrees, and wind gusts to 30 mph.

The mercury should still be in the 60s at Camden Yards by the time the game ends. But a strong cold front approaching behind the warm air will begin to touch off showers and thunderstorms late in the evening, forecasters said.

The front should reach Baltimore and the I-95 corridor by midnight. Expect gusty, perhaps damaging winds with the front. Rain could be locally heavy in thunderstorms, with some risk of flash flooding.

The showers and storms could persist into early Tuesday. Daytime temperatures will hold in the 50s with strong breezes and gusts as high as 36 mph.

It will be sunnier, but not nearly as warm for the Orioles' second home game against Detroit, on Wednesday. The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and highs near 60 degrees.

(SUN PHOTO: Lloyd Fox, April 1, 2011)