A cold start to April and baseball

Once again, Opening Day in Baltimore featured some wacky weather. I've experienced some interesting weather events while at baseball games at Oriole Park and Monday was no different.

There was snow in 2003 and I remember one year freezing during an opening night game when the Orioles and Red Sox opened the season. It was the only time I've ever sat under a blanket at a baseball game.

There was another time I watched the rain cross from the right field side of the stadium to left field side. It was raining so hard that there was so much water on the tarp the grounds crew couldn't pull it to cover the third-base line. I watched the thid-base line turn into a river, thinking they would never be able to resume play. I was wrong as they used ever bag of the quick dry agent and somehow started the game later that night.

Monday was a crazy experience just to see, and feel, the weather change at Oriole Park.

I had a hard time figuring out what to wear to the game as temeperatures were in the upper 60s by lunchtime. I knew there was a chance for showers, but I thought it shouldn't have much impact on the game.

I was wrong. The time of the rain delays, 2 hours and 51 minutes, was longer than it took them to play the actual game, 2 hours and 48 minutes.

During the second rain delay, the one where it actually poured, the public address announcer said that after the line of showers passed, they expected clear skies so the game could resume. From my vantage point in the upper deck down the first base line, you could see the sky clearing in the west. It was pretty neat and I wish I had taken some pictures.

After sunset, the cold winds started, to the point that I even was about to do something I rarely do at a baseball game -- leave early. Thankfully Matt Weiters took care of that part with the game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth.

Maybe it's because I'm older, but I have to admit I'm happy I exchanged the next few dates of my 13-game season ticket package for a game in July. Night baseball in April can be a little chilly.

A freeze warning has been issued tonight into Wednesday morning. And there's even the chance we could see some snow flakes on Saturday.

It looks like the stretch of cold weather may stick around until the middle of the month as the National Weather Service expects below-average temperatures. April's normal highs warm from 59 to 70 by the end of the month. We're not going to see that anytime soon and it may be wetter than normal too.

Here's a look at the forecast for the next few days: