BLOG: Snow Ahead--But How Much?

We already have the cold, now here comes some snow.

The bitter cold is still hanging over Maryland.  We started out the day at 19 degrees and have creeped back up to the 30s this afternoon - but barely.  That is about 15 degrees below normal.  With the winds gusting again today, it feels 10-15 degrees colder than the actual air temperatures.  We are going back down to the teens again tonight, setting the stage for a storm to move our way tomorrow.

This storm is already producing some snow and ice along a line from North Dakota down into Alabama.  The whole line will move eastward, even though the center of the storm will pass quickly to the south of us over Virginia.  That leaves us in the cold air on the northern side of the storm, where we are expecting some snow.  The snow could start as early as tomorrow morning, giving us a coating - 1" around most of the state with 1-2" south of DC. 

The storm will be gone tomorrow night, but the cold will continue.  Even though highs may creep up a few degrees Friday and Saturday, we will still be 5-10 degrees below average.  Expect some sunshine on Friday, but then the clouds come back in again Saturday as the next storm moves our way.  So that brings us to the next storm...

There are a lot of questions with the next storm.  It will move across the Gulf Coast Saturday, then make a turn up the coast Saturday night.  The big question is: does it just cut through the Carolinas and then head out to sea...or does it interact with the warmer water and get pulled farther north along the coast into the Northeast.  That is what we will be trying to figure out the next couple of days leading up to the weekend.  The picture will become more clear after this first storm is gone, when the models will be able to focus on the second one.  So we think that there is the chance for some snow or wintry mix and snow on Sunday...but how much depends on how close this storm gets to us.  The closer, the more snow we could expect...the farther away, the less snow for us. 

One thing we are certain of is that it will reinforce the cold air for next week.