Travel delays likely Saturday in heavy rain
That's a cold rain falling outside this Saturday morning,. And it appears it's just the beginning. Forecasters 
are predicting 1 to 2 inches of rain in Central Maryland, with more just to our west.
The storm is expected to slow traffic on the region's interstates, and across a wide swath of mid-Atlantic airports. Not good news if you're headed out of town.
Here's AccuWeather.com's take on the powerful storm. This is the same system that has triggered violent tornadoes across the south, with numerous fatalities and tremendous damage.
For those in the Plains states, on the back side of the circulation, the storm has trigger heavy, wet snow. The flakes have even covered the nest of the Decorah, Iowa eagles that have fascinated so many online viewers.
Here in Central Maryland, the National Weather service has posted a Coastal Flood Advisory, calling for high tides Saturday two to three feet above tide table predictions along the Western Shore of the Chesapeake. There is a Coastal Flood Watch for more of the same overnight.
And wait; there's more. A Hazardous Weather Outlook for the region calls for all of the above, and this:
"THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG A SURFACE TROUGH LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND WILL MOVE THROUGH THE OUTLOOK AREA. SOME STORMS WILL
BE CAPABLE OF TORNADOES AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. HEAVY RAIN IN
THESE STORMS ALSO COULD LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING MAINLY ALONG AND
WEST OF THE INTERSTATE 95 CORRIDOR."
Finally, there is a Flash Flood Watch posted for all of Maryland west of I-95, where heavy rain falling on wet or saturated ground will raise streams out of their banks:
"A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR FLASH
FLOODING MAY DEVELOP. MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND BE
PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED."
Comments
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 151
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
130 PM EDT SAT APR 16 2011
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
MARYLAND
NORTHERN VIRGINIA
EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 130 PM UNTIL
900 PM EDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 80 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF
MARTINSBURG WEST VIRGINIA TO 25 MILES WEST OF RICHMOND VIRGINIA.
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 150...
DISCUSSION...A STRONGLY FORCED BAND OF TSTMS DEVELOPING ALONG
SYNOPTIC COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO PROGRESS EWD ACROSS THE WW AREA
THIS AFTERNOON INTO EVENING. INTENSE PRESSURE FALLS OVER THE MID
ATLANTIC STATES ARE RESULTING IN THE NWD FLUX OF AN INCREASINGLY
WARM AND MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER INTO THE AREA WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR
STORMS TO BECOME PROGRESSIVELY SURFACE-BASED. GIVEN THE VERY STRONG
WIND FIELD IN PLACE...THE POTENTIAL WILL EXIST FOR EMBEDDED BOWING
AND SUPERCELL STRUCTURES WITH A RISK FOR TORNADOES AND DAMAGING WIND
GUSTS.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
350. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 21050.
Posted by: trebort49 | April 16, 2011 2:24 PM
When was the last time Baltimore experienced seven consecutive days WITHOUT RAIN?
FR: Feb. 11-19, 2011. Nine straight days without so much as a trace of rain or snow.
Posted by: RomanTotale3d | April 18, 2011 11:42 AM