Maryland weather: After one of the hottest summers in years, this is the coolest it’s been in three months

This weekend’s cool weather — the coolest in three months — comes at the end of what has been one of the Baltimore region’s hottest summers in years.

Temperatures reached only 74 degrees at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport amid dreary weather on Friday, about 10 degrees cooler than average for late August. There hasn’t been a cooler daytime high at BWI since May 22.

And though the sunshine returned Saturday, temperatures are forecast to peak only in the upper 70s or around 80 degrees through the weekend.

That is a marked change from the norm this summer. High temperatures have consistently been in the upper 80s and 90s since late May, except for three days in the upper 70s and lower 80s in early June and a one-day cool spell July 8.

Early morning lows have been in the 60s in recent weeks, including early Saturday, which is actually close to normal for this time of year.

The heat has been unusually prolonged this summer — temperatures have already surpassed 90 at BWI on 48 days. There haven’t been more hot days there in any year since 2010.

In July, temperatures hit 100 degrees on back-to-back days for the first time since 2012.

There have already been twice as many 90-degree days this month than average for August in Baltimore with 14. Temperatures are forecast to bounce back into the 80s next week, but may not hit 90 again before meteorological summer ends in a week.