Relief: "Normal" temperatures by Wednesday
Seems there's heat AND light at the end of the tunnel. Forecasters out at Sterling say Baltimore should be basking in near-normal high temperatures on Wednesday, with the mercury approaching 50 degrees by the end of the week.
That and a generally sunny week should get rid of all but the biggest remaining heaps of snow and ice in the region. But we're hardly out of the woods yet. We've barely reached the middle of January - our snowiest month on average. And then we face the perils of mid-February, when the 
bulk of our biggest historic snowstorms have struck.
Eight of the top-20 snowstorms on record for Baltimore have occurred between Feb. 5 and Feb. 19. (See table below, which does not yet include last month's 21.1-inch snowstorm, now No. 7.)
Short-term, there is a slim risk of a few snow showers or flurries east of the mountains tonight. But Sterling has no plans to issue any advisories. What little accumulating snow action there is will be confined to the usual mountainous terrain well to our west, forecasters say, "and even that will be meager." One to 3 more inches are forecast tonight for Garrett.
The chill will be with us today and Tuesday, with highs only in the mid-30s. The average highs for this time of year at BWI are around 41 degrees. And next weekend - or thereabouts - will mark what are the coldest days of the year, on average. From there, the averages begin to warm toward spring. We passed the latest sunrise on Jan. 4, so we'll see more and more sunlight on both ends of the day from now on.
By Wednesday we'll break 40, forecasters say. And the forecast highs for Friday will close in on 50 degrees before we turn colder again. There's a chance of more snow on the weekend. Stay tuned.
This morning's low at BWI was 16 degrees, no threat to the record of 1 degree, set on this date in 1982. We had 12 degrees out on the WeatherDeck, and a low of 21 degrees here at Calvert and Centre streets. Here are some other lows from around the region this morning.
(SUN PHOTO/Karl Merton Ferron/February 2007)
| 1 | 28.2 inches ... Feb. 15-18, 2003 | 11 | 14.1 inches ... Dec. 11-12, 1960 |
| 2 | 26.5 inches ... Jan. 27-29, 1922 | 12 | 13.1 inches ... Feb. 11-12, 2006 |
| 3 | 22.8 inches ... Feb. 11, 1983 | 13 | 13.0 inches ... Mar. 5-7, 1962 |
| 4 | 22.5 inches ... Jan. 7-8, 1996 | 14 | 12.3 inches ... Jan. 22, 1987 |
| 5 | 22.0 inches ... Mar. 29-30, 1942 | 15 | 12.1 inches ... Jan. 30-31, 1966 |
| 6 | 21.4 inches ... Feb. 11-14, 1899 | 16 | 12.0 inches ... Feb. 16-18, 1900 |
| 7 | 20.0 inches ... Feb. 18-19, 1979 | 17 | 11.9 inches ... Mar. 13-14, 1993 |
| 8 | 16.0 inches ... Mar. 15-18, 1892 | 18 | 11.7 inches ... Feb. 5-8, 1899 |
| 9 | 15.5 inches ... Feb. 15, 1958 | 19 | 11.5 inches ... Dec. 17-18, 1932 |
| 10 | 14.9 inches ... Jan. 25, 2000 | 20 | 11.5 inches ... Mar. 21-22, 1964 |
Comments
Frank,
How does this prolonged period of cold compare with other notable cold snaps? I've been in Baltimore since 1991 and can't remember too many that have been this cold for this long. It seems like we haven't cleared 40 for a couple of weeks, and every night for several weeks has been below freezing!
Drew
FR: It may seem really cold because the last several winters have been so mild. The NWS said last week the period from Dec. 1, 2009 to Jan. 7, 2010 was the 27th-coldest in Baltimore's record books, which go back to 1871. But you don't have to go back too far to find some lots colder. In 1989-90 the same period ranked third coldest. In 2000-01 the same period ranked No. 5.
Since Dec. 5, BWI has seen only seven days with above-average temperatures for the dates. We've topped 40 degrees on just three dates since Dec. 15. Overnight lows have stayed above freezing just twice since Dec. 16. But no records have been broken.
Posted by: Drew Lenear | January 11, 2010 1:36 PM
With all due respect, Drew Lenear, it is very cold this year and our last few winters, contrary to being 'mild' have been colder than usual in most of Maryland. Not BONE CHILLING cold like they have been this winter, but yes... colder than usual.
I was looking at the temperatures for Aberdeen (where I live) and the temperatures are pretty cold... colder than the same period 50 years ago, so that puts the LIE to global warming once and for all.
At least, AGW (man-made global warming).
Posted by: Abresh | January 12, 2010 1:00 AM
Yes, Abresh, clearly your analysis of the past 50 years of Aberdeen recorded temperatures trumps the other accumulated data on carbon dioxide emission and the greenhouse effect. Congratulations!
Posted by: Annie Powell | January 12, 2010 7:47 AM