Maryland Weather Forecast: Snow, Dangerous Cold Cover State

BALTIMORE, MD — Southern Maryland is in the midst of a blizzard as a winter storm forecasters are calling a "bomb cyclone" pummels the East Coast, including Maryland's Eastern Shore, while the Baltimore area has received a couple inches of snow and several counties have canceled schools because of slick roads and frigid temperatures. The National Weather Service has issued several winter weather advisories across Maryland to warn drivers of the potential for snow-covered and slippery roads and limited visibility.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency for Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties beginning Wednesday as forecasts called for a foot of snow or more to pile up there before the storm heads north. Schools in the city of Baltimore, along with Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Carroll, Prince George's, Montgomery, Howard, and Harford counties, are all closed Thursday.

A winter weather advisory in effect for Baltimore, Prince George's, Anne Arundel, Charles and Harford counties has been extended until 1 p.m. Thursday, says the National Weather Service, which called for a maximum snowfall of 3 inches in those areas. A wind chill advisory will kick in at 10 p.m. Thursday and run through noon Friday.

Snow will linger Thursday with very cold wind chills expected overnight. Additional accumulations of less than an inch of snow are likely, the weather service says. Expect wind chills to range from 5 above zero to 10
below zero Thursday night in central, northern and southern Maryland and central Virginia. Marylanders face gusty winds and blowing snow today, with winds potentially gusting up to 50 mph. The cold wind chills will cause frostbite in as little as 30 minutes to exposed skin this evening, officials warn.

There will be 6 to 10 inches of snow on the Eastern Shore in Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties, which are under a blizzard warning until 6 p.m. Thursday, with 4 to 8 new inches of snow predicted during the day. Locally higher amounts of 12 inches are possible.

"Travel will be very dangerous to impossible" in that area, the weather service says. And once the snow ends, the hazardous conditions remain.

"Bitterly cold conditions will follow for late Thursday through the weekend, causing snow to remain on untreated surfaces," according to the National Weather Service.

See Also:

• Maryland Snow Totals By Town For Bomb Cyclone Jan 4
  
• What Is A Bomb Cyclone? Winter Storm Brews In Atlantic
  

The snow coming to Maryland is a product of a storm called a "bomb cyclone" that may bring hurricane-force winds and polar vortex temperatures to the Eastern Seaboard. (Sign up for Patch emails for more weather alerts; find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

What's a bomb cyclone? The term is new to the winter weather vernacular, which includes others like "polar vortex" that scare the living daylights out of people. And if this storm develops to its full potential, a healthy fear is in order. At its worst, it could carry hurricane force winds, blinding snow and a bomb-like drop in pressure. And after the snow exits, the temperatures will dip into the polar vortex range with some of the coldest air of what has, at just three days old, already been a bone-chilling year.

As summer hurricanes do, the storm is expected to gather strength off the coast of Florida Wednesday, where it may bring snow and ice to areas not accustomed to such weather, then move on to the New England coast.

The fierce weather system has one airline warning travelers that flights to and from several cities could be cancelled or delayed Thursday and Friday as the storm makes its way up the eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine.

Delta Airlines acted ahead of the storm, warning travelers the storm could cripple airports in Georgia, the Carolinas and Florida, which are expected to get ice and several inches of snow from the powerful storm system. That could snarl travel plans in the rest of the country as well.

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