WEATHER BLOG: It's Still Officially Winter

Spring may officially start on Wednesday, but Mother Nature is reminding us that it's still officially winter.

Clouds are dominating the forecast this weekend as we deal with back to back cold fronts.  The first one is producing spotty rain around the state Saturday, while holding temperatures down to around 50 degrees for our highs.  This is a quick moving front, and will exit stage right Saturday night.  However, the second front moving our way later Sunday will be a different story.

At the same time this second front is moving our way from the west, cold air will be making a strong push from New England.  The battle zone between the two will be in the Northeast, with Maryland right on the southern fringe.  What that means is that we are going to get a mixed mess of weather starting late Sunday through Monday morning.

The ground has been well above freezing, and the air moving our way will only be marginally below freezing for most of the Baltimore metro area.  So we are not expecting a big winter storm around most of the Baltimore region.  However, we will see a rain/wet, sloppy snow mix break out Sunday evening.  The mixing line, complete with sleet or possibly even freezing rain, will meander above Baltimore through Monday morning before rain takes over.  Then, we will have on and off rain the rest of Monday through Tuesday morning before this storm gets out of here.

Cold air will hang on longer for the valleys of western Maryland, where there is a winter storm watch posted for Allegany County from Sunday afternoon through Monday afternoon.  The cold air may even support a small accumulation on the grass/cars/houses down through Washington, Frederick, and Carroll Counties.  But the warmer air will eventually take over for rain in these places, too.

Highs will only be near 40 degrees the next two days until we wrap up the approaching storm.  When we do, temperatures jump back up to the low 50s Tuesday.  A new round of chilly air will move our way for the second half of the week, bringing spotty afternoon showers Wednesday as it arrives.  Highs will drop to the mid 40s again Thursday and Friday.