Looks like the central counties on Maryland's Eastern Shore stand the best chance for some accumulating snow today - but only an inch or two.

The National Weather Service has posted a Snow Advisory for Caroline, Talbot and Queen Anne's counties, effective from noon to 7 p.m. Also included are southern Delaware and southeastern New Jersey. Here's an Easton webcam shot.

A passing cold front, coupled with a low-pressure system forming off the Virginia coast are combining to generate the snowfall east of the Chesapeake. Unfortunately, prime time for this snow will be between 4 and 8 p.m., if the forecasters are right - drive time for those crossing the bay and heading for home on the shore. They may encounter some heavy snow showers that could quickly turn things white. Here's the radar loop.

The urban corridor on the Western Shore shouldn't see that much - just scattered snow showers, forecasters said.

But Maryland's mountains could see some accumulating snow as the cold air moves in. "Will go 1 to 3 inches, although I wouldn't be surprised to see higher amounts," forecasters said in this morning's discussion.

Friday should be sunny but cold, perhaps 5 degrees below the norm for this time of year at BWI. A weak storm system will pass by on Saturday, with only slight chances for rain or snow. Sun returns Sunday and things begin to warm up for the start of the new work week. We may even move into above-normal territory, in the mid-40s.

The meteorological winter will be two-thirds over by the end of next week. And we have so far seen just 7.2 inches of snow. That's less than 40 percent of the average seasonal snowfall at BWI (18.2 inches). Only two winters in the last 10 have seen less. They were:

1997-98:  3.2 inches

2001-02:  2.3 inches