BLOG: The Blizzard Is Winding Down

The massive blizzard that just hammered the East Coast is now finally winding down. This was truly a coastal storm, with the highest snowfall amounts lining the coast from the Carolinas all the way up to Maine. The bull's-eye for snow seems to be New Jersey.

There were snowfall totals topping out at 26.5" in Cape May County in the south to 28.5" in Toms River to 30" in Elizabeth in the north. Even though amounts were less, 20" of snow fell in Central Park with nearly 20" in the Boston region, too. And in all these locations, winds were a huge factor. Winds were consistently gusting over 60 mph along the Cape, over 50 mph for numerous hours in Long Island, and even over 40 mph for many hours in a row in Newark.

I am sure that you have already heard this, but this storm shut down all New York City airports and canceled the Sunday night Eagles/Vikings game in Philly. Now, I just want to be clear that it was the NFL who canceled that game...not the fans, some of which were already tailgating early in the day when they got the news.

For us, it was incredible to watch the heavy bands of snow pummeling the beaches, holding together for a lot of snow as they spun over the rest of the Eastern Shore, and then completely die as they moved toward Baltimore. Yes, completely died. It was as if they were hitting a wall. I don't know if you got a chance to see our early shows, but we had a great snowfall history map for Maryland. It showed an area of 12+ snow along the beaches of Maryland and Delaware back into Philly, a 6-12" zone for the rest of the Eastern Shore up to around Cecil County, and then quickly dropped to a very slim 3-6" zone which encompasses a section of Harford County and Charles County, then a 1-3" zone that stayed east of Baltimore and DC, and finally a trace - 1" zone which went back to about Carroll and Montgomery Counties. Really. We went from 13.5" in Ocean City to barely anything in Baltimore.

Now the winds were a different story. They kicked up for everyone. The highest wind gust was 66 mph in Frederick County. We also topped 50 mph in DC and Baltimore County, and came very close at 49 mph in Baltimore City. BWI-Marshall hit 46 mph, while both western and southern Maryland were in the 40s. The Eastern Shore also had the wind problems, but with them actually having snow, there were even more problems. That wind was really blowing the snow around today, creating large snow drifts.

The wind advisory will expire tonight. Even though they winds will back off a notch, they will still be high tonight and tomorrow. That will lock in the cold air and drop the temperatures in the 30s to a wind chill feel in the teens and 20s. We will still top out in the upper 30s on Wednesday, but the wind will be even less of a factor. Then, a big change comes our way.

The overall weather pattern is about to change later this week. The cold air that has been blanketing us all month long will lift back up to the north. It will allow much warmer air to move our way Friday and Saturday. Highs will be close to 50 on Friday, then top out in the low 50s Saturday. There is the chance for some rain as the next storm moves our way Saturday night into Sunday - yes, rain since it will warm up that much.