Essex This Week: Hot and Rainy; Backyard Digging; Summer Theater

It will be hot and rainy this week in Essex, but there's lot of summer left to enjoy and lots of things around town to do.

Here are five pieces of information to get your week started:

1. After a solid week of temperatures in the high 90s and heat index readings as high as 110 degrees last week, Essex will get a break this week with average temperatures in the high 80s.

According to the National Weather Service, the temperature will range from 84 to 89 degrees most of the week, with significant chances of thunderstorms Monday through Thursday. The nighttime temperatures will range from 72 to 76 degrees. 

2. From history.com's This Day in History: "On this day in 2003, U.S. Army Private Jessica Lynch, a prisoner-of-war who was rescued from an Iraqi hospital, receives a hero's welcome when she returns to her hometown of Palestine, West Virginia. The story of the 19-year-old supply clerk, who was captured by Iraqi forces in March 2003, gripped America; however, it was later revealed that some details of Lynch's dramatic capture and rescue might have been exaggerated."

3. Children of all ages are invited to the Essex Library Wednesday to "Dig Into What's in Your Backyard." The activity kicks off at 11 a.m.

4. If you're willing to travel to a sister city of sorts, the Summer Nights at Harkens concert series continues in Waterford, CT. Folks in Essex CT routinely post things on our Essex MD site all the time; I can't convince them we're not "their" Essex. If they continue to post info, we might as well be friendly!

5. Cockpit in Court Summer Theatre, in residence at The Community College of Baltimore County's Essex campus, continues its 41st season this weekend with productions of "Me and My Girl" and "A Murder is Announced."