Beryl unlikely to bring Maryland rain

Beryl, the second named storm of the 2012 hurricane season, is unlikely to bring any of the rain it has dumped on Florida and Georgia to Maryland.

The storm, now a tropical depression, is predicted to move across the Carolinas today, moving out to sea by Thursday morning. Forecasters say it could regain tropical storm strength once it reaches warm waters again. But the National Hurricane Center's forecast cone shows the storm unlikely to come further north than the North Carolina/Virginia border.

Beryl has dropped between 4 and 10 inches of rain across northern Florida and southeastern Georgia.

The next decent chance for rain in the Baltimore area is Friday night into Saturday morning. A good dose of rain from a tropical system is needed to bring rainfall levels here closer to normal.

The National Weather Service has measured 1.87 inches of rain at BWI Marshall Airport so far this month, about half of normal levels, and rainfall levels for the year to date are more than 6 inches below normal.

Have a weather question? E-mail me at [e-mail] or tweet to @MdWeather.