"It's just day by day, week by week," said Jay Searles, a meteorologist with Penn State Weather Communications. "There are some indications [the front] is starting to shift farther north, especially in the west." But for now, the Maryland forecast calls for more showers and thunderstorms through the weekend.
The wet weather began early in April, ending a very dry stretch through the fall and winter that by late March had reached drought proportions.
Since April 1, Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport has reported more than 17 inches of rain, nearly double the long-term average and a surplus of 8.6 inches.
Eleven weeks of abundant rain have restored stream flows across the state, raised water levels in the region's wells and filled the Baltimore reservoir system to nearly 99 percent of capacity.
Drinking water quality remains fine despite the added runoff. But the Maryland Department of the Environment reminded residents with wells to have their water tested once a year.
In the 77 days since April 1, the National Weather Service says, there have been only 10 days at BWI it could rate as "clear."
Across the state, the rainy weather has delayed winter grain crop harvests, slowed spring planting and cut yields, even as it washes away some crop pests and encourages others.
"The wheat crop probably concerns me the most. ... Every day it rains reduces the quality and prices," said Maryland Agriculture Secretary Earl "Buddy" Hance. "There's never a dull moment in agriculture."
Jason Scott of Hurlock on the Eastern Shore farms about 1,700 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, barley and, this year, peas.
"We were late getting started planting corn, which in turn makes us late with our soybeans," he said. "It was just too wet to get out there."
The rain delayed his winter barley harvest and diminished the yield by 20 percent. "I also had to replant about, probably, 10 percent of my corn," he said.
Some of his corn is stunted, he said. "And instead of being a nice, bright green, it's yellow."
Rainy weather can mean hard times for crop pests, such as thrips and cabbage worms, and for beneficial insects, said entomologist Galen Dively, professor emeritus at the University of Maryland.
While the rain has kept clover and other flowering plants in bloom longer this spring, honeybees have had a hard time getting out to forage among the blossoms.
"I just came from the farm," Dively said, "and they're just snuggled in the hive."
