Rain makes it difficult for Jon Ricchi to practice his dance and performance art, which can involve hula hoops and twirling torches. So when a near-record streak of rainy days took a pause Tuesday, he was eager to get outside.

“I missed the sun so much,” said the shirtless 24-year-old, who was juggling in Wyman Park Dell. While rain helps make his Charles Village garden lush, “it kills me. I just feel like doing nothing.”

The break from the rain was practically a special occasion, one of only a handful of sunny days this month.

If Baltimoreans feel as if they have been drowning in raindrops, it's because the region hasn't seen so many rainy May days since 2003, and could be on its way to a new record.

At least a trace of precipitation has fallen on 19 days in a chilly month of May, spoiling outdoor plans and soaking gardens and cropland.

“I feel like it's rained the whole month,” said Shiffonda Sutton, a 36-year-old early childhood educator who lives in the Patapsco area of South Baltimore. “I've never seen the spring like this.”

The sunshine and warmth that arrived Tuesday are expected to extend through the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Temperatures are forecast to approach 90 degrees Thursday for the first time this year.

Yet more rain could be just ahead. The summer-like pattern for the long weekend could bring passing thunderstorms Thursday and Friday. And rain-weary residents could suffer some more if a tropical system meteorologists are eyeing brings a soaking early next week.

Nearly 5 inches of rain have fallen so far this month at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, the region's point of record. That's a few inches shy of a record May rainfall — 8.71 inches in 1989 — though as much as 8 inches of rain fell in May as recently as 2008 and 2009.

But prolonged stretches of mist, drizzle, fog and downpours have been more rare.

In May 2003, nearly 7 inches of rain fell over 25 days, and Baltimore didn't see a cloud-free day all month. In 2008 and 2009, on the other hand, the bulk of precipitation came over a handful of days.

The region came close to a record rainfall streak this month — counting a few rainy days at the end of April, at least a trace of rain fell 15 straight days at BWI. That just missed a 1935 record of 17 days.

Baltimore has yet to experience what meteorologists would consider a sunny day this month.

“I think people have been craving it,” said Faith Haddad, who spent Tuesday afternoon eating watermelon outside on a blanket with her twin sister, Grace.

Apart from the effect on the psyches of those eager for sunshine, the rain has disrupted business for those relying on good weather to stay busy.

Baltimore Golf Academy has experienced a surge in interest in lessons that Julieta Stack, director of instruction, attributes to the success and popularity of young pros on the PGA tour. But while the weather has little impact on lessons held under shelter, the academy typically encourages new players to get out on the course and see how they do. This year, that's been tough.

“If they're not out there playing, then they don't realize what parts of their game need work,” Stack said.

Even forecasts of rain chances have kept golfers away, said Tom Pierce, director of marketing at Baltimore Municipal Golf Corp., which owns five courses around the region. Many of those who brave the weather have taken advantage of course “rain checks” — if golfers abandon a round, they receive a credit for holes they didn't play and can put them toward their next round.

For Baltimore Sports and Social Club's spring leagues, the weather has created a logistical nightmare of “epic proportions,” said Mike Cray, the organization's owner. Regular seasons for touch football, softball and kickball should have wrapped up by now, but are stretching into June and threatening to fight summer leagues for field space.

“It's unprecedented,” said Cray, who founded the leagues in 1998. “That's what we've been telling everybody, that Mother Nature does what she wants to do.”

Farmers are used to adapting to the weather. This year, adjustments are likely to mean a longer wait for vegetables and sweet corn at farmers' markets and roadside stands, said Lee Richardson, a farmer on the Eastern Shore. All the moisture makes vegetables more prone to disease, and it has been too wet for farmers to plant much corn.

The corn they have gotten into the ground has been slow to grow — crops need heat to thrive, and temperatures have averaged just 57 degrees so far this month at BWI.

“If it's ready by the Fourth of July, it'll be a surprise,” said Richardson, who grows corn and soybeans and raises chickens on a farm halfway between Salisbury and Ocean City.

A weather pattern known as a Bermuda high is expected to bring heat and humidity, at last, by the second half of this week. In that setup, high pressure parks itself out in the Atlantic over Bermuda, and because such systems rotate clockwise, that will mean southern warmth and humidity flowing in our direction and sunshine overhead.

Highs are forecast in the lower to mid-80s from today through the weekend in the Baltimore area. Some areas could even hit 90 degrees Thursday if skies are clear, though the heat could stir some storms, forecasters said.

That is a stark contrast to the pattern that has dominated for the past month, with high pressure over western Canada keeping unsettled weather in place over the eastern United States.

A different weather phenomenon could bring more rain next week as the season for tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes winds up.

Forecasters are watching closely; some models predict that a tropical disturbance or possibly even a depression will move up the East Coast next week, said Luis Rosa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Baltimore/Washington office.

“There's potential to get more rain before the month ends,” he said.

sdance@baltsun.com

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