Dangerously cold weather through Sunday in Maryland
Extremely cold weather will continue in Maryland through the weekend.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday are First Alert Weather Days due to abnormally cold weather. Be alert to dangerous well-below-zero wind chills each morning.
Make sure you are ready for an extended period of unusually cold weather. Look after loved ones and be alert to people in need in your area. Find a list of winter shelters here.
Frigid weather Friday across Maryland
The next few mornings are going to be brutally cold. Wind-chills between 0° and -20° will be common before 9 a.m., especially on Friday and Saturday. The coldest wind-chills will be outside of the Baltimore Beltway each morning.
Aside from the cold, our forecast includes lots of sunshine through the rest of the workweek. Wind settles down on Friday as the brunt of the cold settles into Maryland. Temperatures peak in the low to mid-20s across metro Baltimore, under sun and clouds. T
The intensity and duration of the cold could freeze and break water pipes. The risk of water main breaks is also increasing. Please make sure your home is properly winterized and protected from extreme cold.
Ensure your car tires are properly inflated, you have windshield washer fluid levels checked, and your car batteries are in good health.
Lastly, despite ice appearing to be thick enough to walk on over many waterways, stay off the ice. Ice depth can change quickly, and wind or current could lead to quick changes in the ice condition.
Weekend storm could bring snow to beaches
A powerful coastal storm is set to develop near or over the southeastern United States on Friday. Ironically, widespread snow will fall across some of the same areas that dealt with freezing rain and power outages last weekend. The storm will quickly become large and powerful over the weekend as it slowly tracks off the coast of the Carolinas.
The worst of the storm will stay offshore, but fringe impacts will hit Maryland beaches. A few inches of snow is possible across Maryland coastal counties and the Ocean City area. Accumulating snow may also fall on the eastern shore, but amounts appear light. Most of the snow should stay well southeast of the I-95 corridor. The biggest local impact will come from gusty winds. Temperatures will be in the teens and 20s on Sunday, with winds gusting up to 40 MPH. Wind chills will drop well below zero on Sunday morning.
You may have heard the weekend storm referred to as a bomb cyclone.
What is a "bomb cyclone"?
A "bomb cyclone" is an area of low pressure, also called a cyclone, that has a central pressure that drops rapidly as it strengthens.
The term started being used more frequently in the 1940s and 1950s. The pressure would need to drop at least 24 millibars in 24-hours within the storm. However, there are other factors, including the location of the storm, that need to be considered before designating the term. This process has always existed in our atmosphere. However, the term "bomb cyclone" has become increasingly popular across social media when talking about extreme weather.
It is possible that this weekend's storm could deepen, or strengthen, quickly enough to achieve this status.