Snow/rain mix possible here Friday night
As if the weather outside your window weren't gloomy enough, now forecasters out at Sterling have inserted the words "rain/snow mix as far east as I-95" into their morning forecast discussion.
That prediction is for Friday night, as a low-pressure system spinning counter-clockwise over New England pulls cold air into our region on north winds. It's the first mention this season, I think, of the possibility of flakes in the air in Central Maryland. And so, it begins.
Before we get to Friday, of course, we are looking at more rain, drizzle and fog, at least into the early afternoon today. That's the doing of a coastal low that is now moving away from the region.
Weak high pressure is building into the region already, but it is not expected to drive off the low cloud cover. Drizzle and rain may persist overnight near the bay, while diminishing farther west.
The next coastal low is expected to develop Wednesday. This one appears likely to stay farther off shore, but forecasters say we will remain in line for still more showers and drizzle into Thanksgiving Day.
It's the passage of the next cold front that will turn our weather colder and breezier by late Thursday and Friday. North winds and dropping temperatures are forecast to change rain to snow in the Potomac Highlands late on Thanksgiving Day, and to a rain/snow mix as far east as the Blue Ridge.
By Friday night the cold air will have made it to Central Maryland, with an overnight low around 35 degrees Friday into Saturday. That's when we may see some snow mixed in with our rain.
Farther west, the snow will start to accumulate, and the National Weather Service is expressing "increasing confidence" in a need to issue some Winter Weather Advisories for Maryland's western counties by then. If you're driving west for Thanksgiving at Deep Creek Lake, or Pittsburgh or to visit relatives in West Virginia, pay attention to the forecasts.
Sunshine? You want sunshine? Hang on until the weekend. We should see some blue sky on Saturday. Sunday and Monday look better, too. Then the next storm system moves in.
Comments
Lather, Rinse, Repeat
Posted by: Steve J. | November 24, 2009 1:41 PM
Not sure if snow was in the forecast that day, but we woke up to an inch of snow on the ground in Owings Mills about a month ago. It was the first October snow that I remember since 1979.
FR: You may be right. I do remember that bit of snow. Had a few readers send me photos of snow and downed limbs. It was forecast for the northern and western suburbs, but there was nothing official that fell at BWI. Thanks.
Posted by: Mcat | November 24, 2009 4:32 PM