Weather

WJZ meteorologist Bernadette Woods is leaving the CBS-owned station to join a non-profit firm in New Jersey focused on climate change, she said Wednesday night. Woods, who has been with WJZ for seven years, said she will remain at the station helping with the transition for the next month. After that, she, her husband and their two children will be moving to Princeton, N.J., where she will join Climate Central as staff meteorologist. "I'm very excited about the opportunity in Princeton," she said.

Firefighters rescued a person trapped in a car in Howard County after heavy rain Thursday night led to flash flooding, fire officials said. A fire department spokesman said one person was rescued from a car stuck in the flood waters near the intersection of McKendree Road and Rover Mill Road in West Friendship about 8:30 p.m. That person was not injured, nor were four members of the rescue team, he said. The National Weather Service called a flash-flood warning Thursday night for northwestern Howard County and north Montgomery County.

Inside Westminster Abbey, eight 20-foot-tall live trees lined the center aisle during the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William. The trees transformed the space, doing what even the most elaborate floral arrangement could not — providing a natural, living sense of permanence and an air of drama. The move was unexpected, unpretentious and bold. A potted tree on your patio or deck can have the same effect. While not every tree is well-suited for a container, there are a surprising number of options, ranging from crape myrtles to hollies.

The top-ranked Century boys have been solid all season and got off to a strong start on the rain-filled first day of the state track and field championships Thursday at Morgan State. Century finished the first day - which has events for Class 1A and 2A schools - in first place with 55 points. The Knights have a comfortable lead over Oakdale (28), from Frederick County, in the Class 2A division. Julian Woods and Jake Stefanick each gave the Knights a victory. Woods took first in the long jump (22 feet, 3.25 inches)

Among the concerns for jockeys at the Preakness today is the weather. Shortly before rain began to fall minutes ago, jockeys were watching the skies. Some know all too well that their horses don't respond to sloppy tracks, and they were holding out hope that the rain stayed away from Pimlico Race Cource. “I hope it stays like this [without rain] and I hope he likes the track.” said John Velazquez, who is riding Itsmyluckyday. “[Itsmyluckyday] is another horse that didn't run very good in the slop at Churchill Downs.” Itsmyluckyday finished 15th at The Kentucky Derby with Elvis Trujilloaboard.

For many folks headed to Preakness, the focus of the afternoon isn't the race. It's the fashion — and we don't just mean hats. If you're in the grandstands, the Jockey Club area or Corporate Village, you'll want to dress the part. Betsy Dugan, owner of Bettina Collections in Cross Keys and former co-owner of Octavia in Pikesville, has been dressing women for Preakness for years. "This is the time ... to dress up," she said. If there's one rule of thumb, it's that ladies and gentlemen at Preakness should look like ...well, ladies and gentlemen.

Every morning after her alarm goes off, Rhodessa Bender gets up, makes the bed and reaches for the telephone. "I call the weather and decide what I'm going to put on for the day," she said. "The weather" is Verizon's telephone weather line, 936-1212. Since the days of rotary dials in the 1930s, it has been providing telephone users with the local temperature and forecast. And even today it comes not from robots, but from real people with names and, some say, personality. But on June 1, they're going to fall silent in the Maryland and Washington area codes, along with the phone company's dial-in time service — 844-1212.

Horse racing has always had its seamier side - desperate bets, old-time bookies - but the Preakness infield has lowered the bar. While the well-heeled mingled with martinis in box seats yesterday or in the new Turfside Terrace (where the seats went for $250 a person), thousands of raucous revelers set up mini-pubs in the center of the Pimlico Race Course track and preferred to get down and dirty. This year's Mardi Gras-like fete was one of the dirtiest. Blame it on the rain: Early morning storms turned the typically grassy field into sludge soup.

The Sun's recent reader poll ("What Maryland thinks," July 10) shows that a majority of those responding to this "not scientific" survey doubt that man made climate changes contributed to recent weather extremes. As one who holds an advanced degree in science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I disagree. If you had polled only accredited scientists, I wager about 99 percent would have stated that global warming, in fact, has contributed to recent weather events. In the scientific community, this has become the accepted and undisputed position for years and is a position adopted by the National Academy of Sciences.

Bad weather forced No. 18 Mississippi to postpone its game against Arkansas that was scheduled for Saturday afternoon. The game will instead be played Sunday night in Oxford, Miss. A winter weather system was passing through the mid-South on Friday, bringing snow and ice and making it difficult for Arkansas to travel to Mississippi. The winter weather that shut down Oklahoma City's airport also grounded the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State teams. Oklahoma State is scheduled to play at Missouri and Oklahoma is to play at Nebraska on Saturday.

The Preakness forecast remains a tough call with varying chances of rain predicted. Weather is a major factor every year. From the May 12, 1940, edition of The Baltimore Sun: "Weather man had a tough time making up his mind. Sunshine and gayety until the first race. Everybody talking about first decent Preakness day in three years. ... Sun disappeared, cool wind blew, fancy parasols topping tables on Clubhouse lawn being took off like kites, after second race. ... Sun out again for third race.

AccuWeather.com is predicting another active Atlantic hurricane season, particularly for the U.S. coastline. While the Pennsylvania-based meteorology company is calling for fewer storms in all, with 16 tropical storms versus 19 in 2012, AccuWeather's season outlook suggests four storms could become major hurricanes, compared with one in 2012. AccuWeather expects three storms to make landfall in the U.S., compared with four in 2012. "After a devastating blow to the East from Superstorm Sandy in October of 2012, residents and homeowners on the Atlantic coast should anticipate another active season in 2013," the forecast warns.

A cold front that brought rain and storms Saturday has ushered in high pressure and cooler weather, with sunny skies and highs in the lower 60s forecast Monday in the Baltimore area. Overnight lows were forecast in the lower 40s in the city and the upper 30s in the suburbs, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures were expected to rise to around 60 degrees by midday, though temperatures could remain below that threshhold in areas to the north and west of Baltimore.

The beautiful weekend weather just couldn't last. While clear, sunny skies remain over New England, a low-pressure system spinning up from the Southeast has brought clouds over the mid-Atlantic. An area of high pressure that dominated from late last week through the weekend is now centered near Maine, slipping off the coast. The area had blocked clouds from moving into the region. "ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END...AND SO WE SAY FAREWELL TO THE FINE WX OF THE PAST FIVE DAYS," National Weather Service meteorologists wrote in a morning forecast discussion.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Todd Pletcher knew there were rumors. He even figured some of them impugned his horses. When you're one of the winningest trainers in the game who just happens to condition a quarter of the Kentucky Derby field, that, he said, "is part of the deal. " Upon hearing the specific rumor concerning Verrazano, the 4-1 second choice on the morning line for Saturday's race, the man worrying about five Derby horses - plus four in the ultra-competitive Kentucky Oaks field Friday - found a reason to smile.

Marylanders will face a couple more days of gloomy weather before things brighten up again toward the end of the week, according to the National Weather Service. On the plus side, the stretch of drizzle and rain should wash away some of the masses of tree pollen that have afflicted allergy sufferers for the past few weeks, weather service meteorologist Greg Schoor said. Schoor said a high-pressure weather system near New England is responsible for the rain and high temperatures in the 60s. "If you can manage through today and tomorrow and even into Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be a little improvement," Schoor said Monday.

The National Weather Service was calling for mostly sunny skies Monday, with a high near 95 and south winds between 3 and 9 miles per hour. Tonight, there is a 20 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms after 3 a.m. The low is expected to be about 79 degrees.

The first day of the state track meet for public schools is scheduled for Monday at 11 a.m., at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex. This meet is for Class 1A and 2A schools, but if there is inclement weather, the MPSSAA website will have an announcement on it by 7 a.m.  If the meet is called off, it would be just moved back a few days, and the site would have that information as well. Class 3A and 4A schools are set to have their state meet on Tuesday at 4 p.m., and weather doesn't appear to be a problem there.  For those planning to go, the state meet always draws very big crowds, and doors will open an hour before the start each day, so arriving early would be helpful.

More than 100 gloved volunteers, some in boots and others in waist-high waders, streamed along narrow paths and historic sea walls Saturday in a secluded nook of wetlands just south of Fort McHenry, their eyes scanning for trash or the perfect spot to plant a sapling. The volunteer cleanup and tree-planting event mostly centered on collecting garbage and removing large pieces of driftwood smothering growth areas for grasses. But from time to time, a more novel item turned up. "Here's a tennis ball," said Gail Hoffer, 48, a volunteer from Elkridge, who decided to join the cleanup after getting an email about it from the National Aquarium in Baltimore , where she's a member.

While the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved a Senate plan to avoid furloughs of air traffic controlllers, positions responsible for weather observation at BWI Marshall Airport and other airports across the country are at risk. The Federal Aviation Administration is considering cutting what are known as contract weather observers, who supplement automated meteorologic observation at airports around the country. The observers aren't necessarily meteorologists but they can help verify or expand on forecasting data.