Winter Weather — Northern Baltimore, Maryland

2021-02-18 to 2021-02-19 · Northern Baltimore, Maryland

Wider weather episode

Low pressure passed by to the west as it tracked into the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes on the 18th into the morning of the 19th, before transferring its energy to a coastal low along the Mid-Atlantic Coast. The coastal low moved out to sea later on the 19th.

Canadian high pressure supplied plenty of low-level cold air, but warmer air worked its way in aloft, and this caused a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Snow and sleet overspread the area on the early morning of the 18th. Snow and sleet changed to a light wintry mix including freezing rain by the evening of the 18th. Precipitation ended as a period of light snow and sleet on the morning of the 19th.

The highest snowfall accumulations (around 3 to 6 inches) were across northern Maryland east of Interstate 81, but west of Interstate 95 where the heaviest precipitation occurred, and temperatures aloft were cold enough for precipitation to start off as snow. However, mostly sleet occurred in the Washington and Baltimore Metropolitan areas, so accumulations were less (around an inch). Snowfall amounts around 2 to 5 inches were reported across northern Maryland near and west of Interstate 81.

Ice accumulation from freezing rain was up to a tenth of an inch for most areas, but around a quarter inch in southern Maryland where warmer air aloft cause more freezing rain vs. snow or sleet.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 937504. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.