MD Weather: 50 MPH Winds, Gale Warnings From Ian Remnants

MARYLAND — The remnants of Hurricane Ian are hovering over Maryland and Virginia, prompting a wind advisory for several counties with 50 mph gusts possible Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

Gale warnings and coastal flood watches, are posted for the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River. And the soggy weather continues until Wednesday, with rain chances daily.

"Most of the wind energy from Ian has dissipated as the storm's center continues its trek inland," AccuWeather said. "However, pockets of gusty winds capable of knocking down trees and triggering sporadic power outages can occur as far inland as West Virginia and as far to the north along the coast as New Jersey and Long Island, New York, due to interaction with an old frontal zone."

According to the National Weather Service, showers and below normal temperatures are expected Sunday. Winds will pick up out of the north, making it feel even cooler. Wind advisories are in effect this evening into the day tomorrow for portions of the Chesapeake Bay shoreline.

North winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph are expected Sunday afternoon into Monday. Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects; tree limbs could be blown down; and a few power outages may result, the NWS warned.

The strongest winds will be along the western shore of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, mainly in Anne Arundel, Calvert, and St. Mary's counties.

The latest watches and warnings for Maryland are:

• A hazardous weather outlook was posted by the National Weather Service for the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay, Tidal Potomac River, and I-95 corridor through central Maryland, northern Virginia, and District of Columbia. Counties covered by the outlook are: Cecil, Baltimore, Prince George's, Anne Arundel, Charles, St. Marys, Calvert, Montgomery, Howard and Harford.
• A gale warning is in effect for all of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay and the Tidal Potomac River through late Monday evening.
• A wind advisory goes into effect through early Monday afternoon for the Chesapeake Bay shoreline in Anne Arundel, Calvert, and St. Mary's counties, where wind gusts of 45 to 50 mph are expected.

Some of the energy left over from Ian over the central Appalachians late this weekend will transfer to the mid-Atlantic coast early in the new week, AccuWeather said. This transfer is likely to help spin up a brand new area of non-tropical low pressure just offshore.

The impacts of the new storm will prolong the above-normal tides and their effects; bring a second pulse of rain from portions of Virginia to southeastern New York state and southern New England; and winds may increase for a time as that new storm strengthens.

Ian hit Florida's Gulf Coast on Wednesday as a category 4 hurricane. Two days later, Ian was again a Category 1 hurricane when it made landfall near Charleston, South Carolina.

Hurricane Ian has caused 27 deaths as of Sunday, with authorities expecting many more fatalities in two counties where residents were trapped by storm surge. And, hurricane experts predict above-normal storm activity for the next two weeks in the Atlantic.

Maryland Weather Forecast

Sunday: Showers. Patchy fog before 2pm, then patchy fog after 3pm. High near 58. Northeast wind 14 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Sunday Night: Showers, mainly before 3am. Patchy fog between 1am and 2am. Low around 49. North wind 13 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Monday: Scattered showers. Cloudy, with a high near 56. North wind 11 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Monday Night: Scattered showers. Cloudy, with a low around 49. North wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Tuesday: Scattered showers, mainly before 9am. Cloudy, with a high near 57. North wind 7 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Tuesday Night: Isolated showers before 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 73.

Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast

The experts at Colorado State issued a short-term forecast for the next two weeks of the hurricane season, and they believe that period has the highest probability of above-normal activity.

Ian will go down as one of the strongest storms in U.S. history, reaching the upper limits of Category 4 status with sustained winds of 155 mph, just 2 mph under Category 5 strength. Ian tied with 2004′s Charley and a 1919 Keys hurricane as Florida’s fourth-strongest direct strike on record, according to Colorado State University meteorologist and hurricane expert Philip Klotzbach. The only hurricanes to top Ian included: Michael in 2018, Andrew in 1992 and the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935.

This increased tropical storm activity in the Atlantic comes after a relatively inactive August. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, and September through November are typically the most active months.

Forecasters at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center predicted an active hurricane center earlier this year. Forecasters said the ongoing La Niña, in addition to above-average ocean temperatures, signals a 65 percent chance the 2022 hurricane season will be above normal.

They predicted 14 to 21 named storms with winds of 39 mph or higher. Of those, anywhere from six to 10 of the storms could become hurricanes, with winds of 74 mph or higher.

Forecasters predicted this year's season will spawn anywhere from three to six major hurricanes rated a category 3 or higher during the season's most active months — September to November.