Snow showers, no sweat
Low pressure over eastern Canada is dragging plenty of cold air into our region today from the west. And a weak disturbance embedded in that cold air could trigger some snow showers this afternoon. In their morning discussion today, forecasters call it "not enough for accumulations, but enough to be noticed if it happens."
So if snow does appear in your office windows today, there's no need to panic and flee into the flakes, headed for the grocery store. Just relax and enjoy the scenery.
UPDATE: 3 P.M. - Some of the showers we saw this afternoon actually did leave a measurable accumulation. Click here. And here's what it looks like on radar.
It will all be over tonight as skies clear and the stars come out. Tomorrow should be sunny and bright, too, with seasonable highs in the 40s. They're calling for a coastal low to develop on Thursday, bringing us another shot at some significant precipitation by the afternoon. The forecast high for Thursday at BWI is 40 degrees, so they're talking about "mostly rain" east of the mountains, and "mostly snow" to the west.
Thursday night into Friday could bring some changeover to a mix of rain and snow here. But forecasters caution that, with this kind of coastal storm, they won't get a handle on the rain/snow line until 12 to 24 hours ahead of its arrival.
Whatever we get, there may be a good deal of it. The forecast mentions a potential for up to a half-inch of rain Thursday night. With enough cold air in place, and just the right storm track, who knows?
Friday could usher in the coldest weather of the season so far. The forecast calls for highs only in the 30s for the long MLK weekend. Sunday night's low could sink to 13 degrees.
The forecast for rain and cold notwithstanding, January has so far proven to be unusually mild and dry - just as the prognosticators predicted back in the fall.
With La Nina's track record in mind, they said we could expect to receive most of our wintry weather in December, followed by unusually mild and average-to-dry weather in January and February. So far, they're right on the beam.
The only measurable snow we've seen was the 4.7 inches that fell at BWI on Dec, 5. December ended about one degree warmer than the long-term average.
January is so far averaging 8 degrees above normal. And the airport has recorded barely a half-inch of precipitation - a full inch below normal for the month to date. Heating degree-days are running about 25 percent below normal this month, which means we should be consuming about 25 percent less energy to heat our homes. That's the really good news.
The next few days, of course, could knock all of that back to about average. We'll see.
