Winter Weather Advisory

January 5, 3:52 PMBaltimore Weather ExaminerJustin Berk

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Baltimore Weather Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Ice from shoreline waves in frigid temperatures.

Temperatures will continue to drop throughout the morning as sleet and freezing rain  move in.

Now that I have your attention, I should make note that this image has been circulating the Internet for years.  I am not sure whether it is from Scandinavia or New England, but this thick ice is from waves crashing over the sea wall (to the left) during a frigid storm.  A different kind of icing here, but a great display of the media hook, huh?

As for the storm, I am not going to post a ton of graphics now.  I did so this morning, and you can see that post by clicking here.  If you missed my story on wind farms changing the weather from earlier, you can find that here or at the bottom of this post.

The latest computer guidance models indicate that this will arrive during the morning to early afternoon as a brief period of snow or sleet.  Temperatures will stay locked at, or just below, freezing thanks to a northeasterly wind.  That 'cold air dam' will hold until Wednesday morning (since there is a better chance that a secondary Low will form over the Delmarva and hold off any warming).  It's warm air at cloud level with freezing temperatures at the ground that cause this ice problem.  Extensive sleet and freezing rain can be expected. Remember: Sleet bounces, freezing rain sticks.

The big questions: Where? and How much?

This watch map highlights counties west of the Chesapeake Bay, including Baltimore City.  Farther north will be away from the water and higher in elevation.  That means a longer period below freezing.  The hardest hit areas will be the Hereford zone of Harford and Baltimore Counties and Carroll County.  Depending on which computer model is looked at, we can get between 1/3" and 3/4" of ice.  Central PA may get 1" to 1 1/2" for a major ice storm.  So let's hope it turns over to rain as expected Wednesday morning.  The guidance for BWI is listed here.  Note that just a few miles north can mean a lot more ice.

NGM: .31" ice, then rain overnight;   ETA: 0.30"-0.67" ice; AVN: .45" ice followed by 1.26" rain, and .01" of snow at the end.

Kids and Teachers:  Do your homework!  This will start during the day Tuesday, but it's the "crunch hour" between 3:30pm and 4:30pm when it gets dark and ice collects easier (crunchy) on the roads.  If road crews stay ahead with ample salt and chemicals, then daytime roads should be fine.  After dark is when the ice will be a problem.  Depending on the freezing line set progress, I expect delays and some closings on Wednesday morning.  Stay tuned to ABC2 for the latest on that.  Also check out our new interactive radar here.