Colder weather ahead; rain/snow mix to our west
It looks like the first forecast this fall with the words "rain/snow mix" and "winter precipitation" in it. Seems way too early, but there it is.
The forecast discussion for Central Maryland, posted this morning by the National Weather Service forecast office out at Sterling, is predicting lows in the mid- to upper-30s Thursday and Friday 
nights for the higher elevations of the Blue Ridge mountains to our west. By Friday night into Saturday morning, there will be enough moisture and low-enough temperatures out there to produce a snow/rain mix at high elevations.
Down here in the lowlands, we're looking at a low close to 40 degrees by Saturday morning, with up to a quarter-inch of rain as storm systems approach from the Ohio Valley late this week, and a Georgia low moves up the coast.
In the meantime, the weather service has posted frost advisories for Washington and Allegany counties tonight, including the cities of Hagerstown, Frostburg and Cumberland, where lows are expected to dip into the 30s. There are freeze warnings up for Garrett County.
The cold weather comes to us courtesy of a slow-moving high-pressure system that is settling over the Great Lakes. The clockwise flow around the high will be drawing cold, dry air our way on north winds out of Canada. Friday's forecast high for Baltimore is only 49 degrees. If that holds up, it would be the first time since April 15 we've failed to break 50 degrees.
It was 42 degrees this morning out on the WeatherDeck in Cockeysville. The house was 68, which was enough to drive us to plug in the electric blanket. But the furnace remains silent. It's our goal to keep it that way until Nov. 1. You?
The good news is that the US Dept. of Energy is forecasting lower prices this winter for fuel oil and natural gas. AccuWeather.com reports that the cost of heating homes nationally will be 8 percent lower this season. It's down 12 to 14 percent for natural gas and propane.
(SUN PHOTO/Doug Kapustin/McHenry, Md., October 2005)
Comments
Frank,
I try to hold out until Thanksgiving and make that about 1/2 the time. But its looking dicey this year.
But on the flip side the "Cooler" summer will make up for the increased heating bills. Always comes out for "BGE" in the end (Kinda like how Vegas always wins no matter how many people get lucky with those big jackpots)
Posted by: F Smith | October 13, 2009 12:37 PM
I have a simple wish: A cold and snowy winter with one or two decent blizzards. Baltimore is never more magnificent than on a moonlit snowy night.
And, snow days are great, also.
Posted by: Stephen Brockelman | October 13, 2009 6:50 PM
Yeah I am wishing for a good snowy winter. Best place to watch a snowfall in Baltimore: From the 13th floor in the Belvedere Hotel, Inner Harbor and then the Key Bridge to the South and you can see all the way to Towson to the North. Beautiful!
Posted by: drewski68 | October 14, 2009 8:58 AM
Frank, we shoot for Nov. 1 at our house too!
FR: Hang in there. It's going to be cold for the next few days.
Posted by: Beth | October 14, 2009 12:28 PM
Don't do that to me, Stephen Brockelman. Some of us don't get snow days, no matter how dangerous the roads are or how unplowed our streets are!
Posted by: CatsMcGee | October 14, 2009 1:41 PM
No furnace on yet, I like to shoot for November first too but don't always win the 'discussion' with my wife. I started using the fireplace woodstove insert on Monday afternoon/evening. It has a built-in blower fan so we get good circulation of the heat generated.
FR: I caved. When the temperature hit 58 in the back bedroom, we hit the switch. "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."
Posted by: AVC | October 16, 2009 12:55 AM