With temperatures in the 80s and low 90s the past several days unpleasant thoughts of a very uncomfortable Baltimore Running Festival have managed to creep into my mind. But looking at this morning's run of the medium range computer models gives hope for a more pleasant run come Saturday. If the models are right (a big "if"!), two surges of cooler air will make their way through Maryland this week, each one helping to take temperatures back down toward more typical October levels. The first front is expected to arrive here late Tuesday night, hopefully producing a few much needed showers as it passes. The second push of cool air will come as a low pressure are in the middle levels of the atmosphere drops southeast from northern Michigan on Wednesday into the mid Atlantic states on Friday. If the current timing holds (another big "if"!) this low pressure system will lift out to the northeast Friday night, leaving behind clearing skies and comfortable running temperatures for Saturday. Lots of "ifs" to watch as the weather pattern across North America gets set to go through some changes this week, but the early outlook for Saturday morning in Baltimore is: Partly cloudy, breezy...morning temperatures in the upper 40s and afternoon highs in the upper 60s.

Tom Tasselmyer