Today is Thursday, March 21, and here are the five things you need to know:

1. It should be a pleasant early-spring day in Salem. The National Weather Service is predicting that local residents can expect it to be mostly cloudy, with a high near 38. Tonight should be cloudy, with a low around 27. (sunrise, 6:44 a.m.; high tide, 7:19 a.m.; low tide, 1:58 p.m.; sunset, 6:56 p.m.)

2. Looking to take in some live music in Salem tonight? How about making some music of your own. Here are just some of the open mic events listed in our Salem Patch events calendar: Open Mic with Nick Consone, The Session, The Vault Alarm Open Mic.

3. The Salem Planning Board will meet tonight at the City Hall Annex on Washington Street. The meeting, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., is expected to feature a discussion regarding a proposed project on Ocean Terrace, according to the posted agenda.

4. Let's face it - most of us are done with winter and ready to enjoy some spring weather. But before we move forward in the calendar, let's take a look back at the winter that was by reviewing Salem's Top 20 Stories of the Winter of 2013.

5. Today in History: On March 21, 1963, Alcatraz Prison, a famous federal penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay, officially closed.

For more things going on in Salem today, check out our events calendar.