Winter Weather — Talbot, Maryland

2010-12-26 to 2010-12-27 · Talbot, Maryland

Wider weather episode

A major winter storm dropped moderate amounts of snow along the Maryland Eastern Shore as the region was near the western edge of the precipitation area. Accumulations averaged 3 to 6 inches with the highest amounts toward the Delaware state line. The storm did claim the life of an elderly woman in Talbot County who went outdoors and died of hypothermia. Intermittent light snow fell overnight on the 25th, but the storm related snow began on the 26th between 6 a.m. EST and 7 a.m. EST in Caroline and Talbot Counties, between 10 a.m. EST and 11 a.m. EST in Kent and Queen Anne's Counties and by 1 p.m. in Cecil County. The snow ended during the early morning on the 27th before sunrise. The winter storm occurring on a Sunday (26th) cut down on the number of traffic accidents. One of the worst reported accidents occurred near Easton (Talbot County) on U.S. Route 322 where a head-on collision resulted in multiple injuries. The winter storm forced Caroline County offices to open two hours later than normal on Monday the 27th.

Representative snowfall included 6.4 inches in Greensboro (Cecil County), 6.3 inches in Denton (Cecil County), 5.5 inches in Millington (Kent County), 4.0 inches in Conowingo (Cecil County) and America Corner (Caroline County) and 3.1 inches in Saint Michaels and Easton (Talbot County).

The low pressure system responsible for the winter weather entered the United States in southern California on December 22nd. It moved across the southern Rockies and reached the northern Gulf of Mexico on Christmas Day. It was still a relatively weak low pressure system, but as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico, it started to strengthen. At 7 p.m. EST on the 25th, the low had deepened to 1004 millibars in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. From there, the low made a turn to the northeast while the intensification process increased. At 1 a.m. EST on the 26th, it was a 1001 millibar low, just east of Georgia, at 7 a.m. EST on the 26th a 992 millibar low just east of Wilmington, North Carolina and at 1 p.m. EST on the 26th a 986 millibar low about 100 miles east of Virginia Beach, Virginia. During the next six hours as the upper level support neared, the low's intensification rate peaked and at 7 p.m. EST on the 26th, the surface pressure fell to 972 millibars as it passed about 100 miles east of Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Overnight, the surface low was captured by the upper level low and this slowed its forward progress. The capturing phase occurred too late and the general offshore storm track prevented heavy snow bands from making it into the Eastern Shore. At 1 a.m. EST on the 27th, the 970 millibar surface low was located about 50 miles southeast of Montauk Point, New York and at 7 a.m. EST, the 962 millibar low was located just southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The surface pressure bottomed at 961 millibars at 10 a.m. EST on the 27th and from there it slowly weakened as it passed south of Nova Scotia. The surface pressure of this winter storm dropped 31 millibars from 1 a.m. EST on the 26th to 1 a.m. EST on the 27th, well exceeding the meteorological definition of a bombing low pressure system (24 millibar drop in 24 hours).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 271827. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.