Weather

Carroll Rinehart, out in Bel Air, remembers that May rainfall had threatened to top the all-time record for the month in Baltimore, and asks: "Did the last couple of days put us over the top?" Happily (or sadly for us weather geeks), no. The last day of May brought a final quarter-inch of rain. That pushed the month's total to 7.77 inches, cementing its standing as the second-wettest May on record here. But it was still an inch short of the 1989 record of 8.71 inches.

The season for singing about a white Christmas, sleigh rides with jingle bells, Frosty the Snowman and the delights of a fire when the weather is frightful has largely passed, but over the next few weeks, such thoughts and images will become increasingly relevant. Ice skating, snow and winter sports are a big part of the holiday season's lore, but, at least in these parts, not so much a part of reality. White Christmases are few and far between, coming about 20 percent of the time if you count dustings like the one experienced on the most recent Eve of the Nativity.

Over the past two weeks -- and at different times over the last 30 years, whenever we had big snowstorms in Maryland -- I've tried to figure out what it is about them that's different than the ones I experienced growing up in another part of the country, where snow was more common but still a "weather event" that raised blood pressures and affected the behavior of the human beings around me. In the midst of the blizzard of 2010 -- and the major...

Margie M. Kinney, who worked as a "weather lady" for WMAR in Baltimore during the 1960s, died Wednesday of respiratory failure and pneumonia at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson. The Timonium resident was 88. Born Margie Moore McGee, Mrs. Kinney graduated from high school in North Carolina and attended Appalachian State University in the early 1940s before studying radio and dramatics at Emerson College in Boston. She worked at small radio stations in North Carolina as a staff announcer and at WBT radio in Charlotte as an assistant before moving to the Baltimore area, said her son, Rick Kell of Lutherville.

An appealing lineup and decent weather might help the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic draw a record-setting crowd Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium. Andy Bilello , the director of business development for Inside Lacrosse, said ticket sales for Saturday's tripleheader involving No. 1 Syracuse against No. 15 Georgetown, No. 2 Virginia against No. 13 Cornell and No. 14 Johns Hopkins against UMBC have mirrored last year's figures, which resulted in...

The Babe Ruth Museum today announced that it is again postponing "Babe's Birthday Bash" until Feb. 19 because of the weather. "It's unfortunate to have to now push the event back for a second consecutive week, but considering the snow that is blanketing our area it is the right decision," said Mike Gibbons, the museum's executive director. "With the new storm only adding to the tremendous snow received last weekend, our thoughts continue to center on the safety of our guests and we do not want anyone to put themselves at risk."

A facility intended to be a "brain center" for U.S. weather and climate prediction activity opened Monday at the University of Maryland, College Park. Officials including Sen. Barbara Mikulski, led a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 268,000-square-foot center at 2 p.m. The building houses more than 800 employees of NOAA's Center for Weather and Climate Prediction. The employees moved from an antiquated facility in Camp Springs, in southern Prince George's County, to the new $100 million NOAA facility on the campus of M-Square, a university research park.

Here's my annual contribution of my thoughts on democracy: First, God makes the weather, including violent events. So people of faith should be calling Heaven and raising Hell. Second: If you don't believe in climate change, you are gambling with your descendants' health and well-being. Third: If you want smaller government, why are you complaining about the mayor, the governor and the president? We have 300 million-plus folks to support today, compared to two-and-a half million when the Constitution was signed.

As a result of travel difficulties stemming from the winter storm, the Towson University men's basketball team was unable to arrive at the Patriot Center in time to play George Mason Wednesday evening. The Colonial Athletic Association contest has been rescheduled for Thursday at 4 p.m.