5 Things You Need To know Today, Wednesday, April 17

Here are 5 pieces of information designed to get you over the hump on this Wednesday and to help make you the smartest person at your breakfast table.

1. Your Local 3-Day Weather Forecast:

• According to the NWS, today will be cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 65. Northwest wind 7 to 10 mph.
• Tonight Clear, with a low around 36. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
• Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near 60. East wind 8 to 11 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
• Thursday Night A chance of showers, mainly after 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. South wind 9 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
• Friday A chance of showers. Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 70. South wind 8 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
• Friday Night A chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2am. Cloudy, with a low around 51. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

2. It's Happening Today: The annual Aleppo Shriners' Circus begins today with shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Shriners Auditorium on Foster Road, Wilmington. Tickets are $10. The circus will be in town through Sunday, April 21. Click here for details.

3. Reader Comment of the Day: "There must be dust in here, eyes are welling up. Good on you Krista!" reader Eric Neville, commenting on the blog post,

4. It's Also Happening Today: A Prayer Vigil For The Boston Marathon Bombing Victims will take place tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Tewksbury Congregational Church.

5. By The Numbers: $6,497.50. OK, maybe it's not quite hot enough to be thinking about this  ... yet. But that is the amount the town paid Water Country for tickets for a Recreation Department program. Grab your towel!!