Oh, my ... NWS boosts forecast to 20-28 inches
UPDATE: Let the wild rumpus begin. There are flakes in downtown Baltimore at 11:05 a.m. Meanwhile...
The forecast escalation continues. Now the National Weather Service has issued a new Winter Storm Warning that predicts snowfall across the region between 10 a.m. Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday in the range of 20 to 28 inches.
As we've said, a 28-inch storm would threaten the all-time (since 1883) Baltimore record snowfall of 28.2 inches back on Feb. 16-18, 2003 (photo). It would also, of course, eclipse the 21.1 inches that fell in December. Some locations could well see more than the airport. Some forecasters have an upper end to their predictions well into the 30-inch range.
Here's part of the Winter Storm Warning:
* TIMING...SNOW WILL BEGIN MID-MORNING...AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
SATURDAY EVENING. CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE RAPIDLY THIS
AFTERNOON...WITH HEAVIEST SNOWFALL OCCURRING FROM SUNSET THROUGH
SATURDAY MORNING. THE MOST HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR
TONIGHT.
* VISIBILITIES...THE COMBINATION OF HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS
WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO BELOW ONE-QUARTER MILE...PRODUCING
NEAR-BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING.
* TEMPERATURES...HIGHS IN THE LOWER 30S TODAY. TEMPERATURES WILL
BE IN THE MID TO UPPER 20S TONIGHT AND SATURDAY.
WeatherBlog readers report that the snow is already falling (at 10:15 a.m.) in the Beltsville/Laurel area. Also in Columbia. "Light snow" reported at 11 a.m. from BWI. Downtown Baltimore remains flake-free. For now.
Here's the latest forecast from Sterling. Here's AccuWeather.com, and here is Foot's Forecast.
(SUN PHOTO/Jed Kirschbaum/February 2003)
Comments
"There are flakes in downtown Baltimore at 11:05 a.m. "
OK. But what about the snow?
FR: That, too.
Posted by: Gonzai | February 5, 2010 11:16 AM
Unbelievable. Meanwhile, up here in New Hampshire, my son's cross country skiing team has lost two meets for lack of snow.
FR: Come and get it!
Posted by: Jamie Hunt | February 5, 2010 11:28 AM
foots saying 24-36
Posted by: bill | February 5, 2010 11:43 AM
This nut is saying 4 feet of snow... http://www.1bal.com
FR: Let him name his source. Meanwhile, if you add up the lower ends and then the upper ends of the ranges posted by the NWS on the current BWI forecast http://bit.ly/8YjmGj , you get 21 to 33 inches.
Posted by: Bernard | February 5, 2010 11:56 AM
Snow! Help! Ouch! Cold! Can't catch breath! End is nigh! No whole milk! Sold out! Only skim! No! Bad! Won't! Bread! Cocoa! Snacks! Super Bowl! What? Run! Help! Wicked city! Old Testament-style punishment! Wrath of God! Wrath of nature! Wrath of Khan! Man vs. Nature! Man vs. Man! Man vs. Self! 2012! Panic! Doomed...all of us! Must evacuate town...before...too...late!Hat! Precipitation! El Niño! The Mayans! Cold front! Low pressure system! High pressure system! Voter fraud! Warm front! Meteorology! Barometer! What? [Keels over.]
Posted by: Todd | February 5, 2010 12:00 PM
NWS just revised the warning again. Now 20-30"
WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST SATURDAY...
A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST SATURDAY.
* PRECIPITATION TYPE...HEAVY SNOW.
* ACCUMULATIONS...WIDESPREAD STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 20 TO 30 INCHES...WITH SOME LOCATIONS IN EXCESS OF 30 INCHES.
* TIMING...SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE RAPIDLY THIS AFTERNOON...WITH HEAVIEST SNOWFALL OCCURRING FROM SUNSET THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. THE MOST HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR TONIGHT.
* VISIBILITIES...WIDESPREAD VISIBILITIES AROUND ONE-QUARTER MILE ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT IN HEAVY SNOW. STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH THE SNOW ALONG THE MARYLAND CHESAPEAKE BAY AND TIDAL POTOMAC RIVER TO REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO WELL BELOW ONE-QUARTER MILE...PRODUCING NEAR-BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING.
* TEMPERATURES...HIGHS IN THE LOWER 30S TODAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE MID TO UPPER 20S TONIGHT AND SATURDAY.
* WINDS...BECOMING NORTHEAST 10 TO 20 MPH LATE TODAY. GUSTS OF 20 TO 30 MPH TONIGHT AND SATURDAY...HIGHER NEAR THE COAST.
Today, 11:57:50 AM
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Posted by: Dave | February 5, 2010 12:09 PM
Now the NWS is saying 20 to 30 inches with some locations in excess of 30. (Source: http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=MDZ011&warncounty=MDC510&firewxzone=MDZ011&local_place1=Baltimore+MD&product1=Winter+Storm+Warning)
Posted by: jJeff | February 5, 2010 12:11 PM
Yes Frank,
There is snow in downtown Baltimore. Lexington market is over run with last minute bread and egg shoppers..I am at work but I will very soon be heading home to Highlandtown. Be careful everyone
L.
Posted by: Lavern Lowery | February 5, 2010 12:13 PM
NWS now at 20-30 inches...
Posted by: lvnbraves | February 5, 2010 12:22 PM
light snow falling in Easton on the Eastern Shore - let the fun begin!
Posted by: kq | February 5, 2010 12:43 PM
Enjoy the snow. Meanwhile, I'll be at my son's baseball practice tomorrow. The forecaster says to expect sun and temperatures in the 70's here in Orlando.
FR: Hurricane season is just around the corner.
Posted by: EarlofBaltimore | February 5, 2010 1:03 PM
Is it warmer this afternoon than the forecasters thought? It could snow for days, but when it's 38F like it is right now in Bel Air, it's not going stick. Maybe I'm a skeptic, but unless something changes with the temperature fairly soon, this is going to be a rainy bust.
FR: Patience.
Posted by: Tom in Bel Air | February 5, 2010 1:32 PM
It's been snowing here in East Baltimore since 11:00 or so, but the temperature is still above freezing (down to 36 degrees at 1:30), so nothing has stuck yet.
Posted by: Hal Laurent | February 5, 2010 1:33 PM
Is it ever going to stick?
Posted by: BT | February 5, 2010 1:41 PM
Count me in the "dud" camp. It's been snowing for several hours in Elkridge, not a single flake is on the ground, it's all melting.
My prediction:
2" - 6" of slush tonight after dark, then done.
FR: Just checked with Jared Klein, a meteorologist at Sterling. He said they have 2 inches there, and promised the forecast was on the beam. "We only expected, probably, up north during the daytime, 3 to 4 inches. We still have a couple of hours for that. It's coming. It's gonna take a little bit of time. Things just got started, and once we get the heavier snowfalls currently over central and southern parts of Virginia, it doesn't matter what the temperature is. It's gonna start sticking."
Posted by: Bryan | February 5, 2010 2:03 PM
I was wondering if you have statistics on how many times the Baltimore/DC region has had 2 storms in the same winter that produced more than one foot of snow each?
Thanks.
FR: That was in our main snow story today. We've never had two 12-inch storms in one season. The closest we came was in 1996, when the 22-inch January storm was followed by a 10-incher later in the season.
Posted by: Kristen | February 5, 2010 5:45 PM
I was looking at your top-20 chart of snowstorms and I see in 1899 there was a storm in February with 11+ inches followed a week or so later by one with 21+ inches.
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Posted by: Andi Prama | February 6, 2010 3:22 AM