Snow is back! October 28, 2008

It’s not even Halloween yet, but western Maryland is under a Winter Weather Advisory tonight. At Garrett College in McHenry, the high temperature today was just 30F, the low so far 28F. The strong storm that tracked from the coast of New Jersey north into central New England has produced a strong northwest [...]

Monday Update October 27, 2008

Well, the cold front moved through today and it carried a bit more moisture with it than anticipated, generating generally less than a tenth of an inch of light rain and drizzle today into the early evening hours Monday. The cloud deck was persistent all day and the lack of sun held the temperatures down. When [...]

Weekend Wrap-Up October 27, 2008

This weekend was really a split decision. Saturday a washout and Sunday was terrific.
Saturday’s rainfall broke a 23 day dry spell at BWI-Marshall. The airport received .72 inches of rain bringing the month’s total to .84 inches. Other locations in the region measured 1 to 1.5 inches. Despite the rain, the month will probably end [...]

Weekend Storm October 25, 2008

A storm is on the way that will dramatically increase the rain chance for the first half of the weekend. The timing of the storm may be questionable as far as affecting weekend activities but it is not all bad news.
October has been a dry month with only .12 inches measured through today, leaving a [...]

October Blizzard! October 22, 2008

It’s not even halloween yet, but blizzard warnings have been posted for northwest Kansas and southern Nebraska.  Deepening low pressure over Kansas is expected to draw in colder air today, changing rain to snow with 3-4″ around Goodland, KS and upwards of a foot of snow near McCook, NE by Thursday evening.  As the storm [...]

First Freeze October 20, 2008

In the early morning hours on Monday, clear skies, a lack of wind and dry air allowed temperatures to fall within range of freezing across the region. The BWI-Marshall 8:00am observation reported a temperature of 32 degrees. This was an “hourly” reading and the actual low may be a degree or two colder. The official [...]

New National Weather Service Office Open House October 16, 2008

The National Weather Service office that has responsibility for the Baltimore/Washington area has opened a new facility near Dulles Airport in Sterling, Virginia. The move to a new facility was required to make way for a new runway at the airport.
The state-of-the-art facility includes a new Doppler Radar (tower and dome on the left) and [...]

Thursday Tropics October 16, 2008

Hurricane Omar passed east of Puerto Rico overnight and is moving northeast out into the Atlantic.
NOAA Visible Satellite Image
The remnant of Tropical Depression 16 has moved inland in the vicinity of Honduras, Guatemala and Belize (lower left in the picture above).
For more on the tropics check our Hurricane Tracker … http://www.wbaltv.com/hurricanes/index.html
John Collins

Omar On The Move October 15, 2008

Hurricane Omar is making it’s move on the Northern Leeward Islands of the Caribbean.
NOAA Enhanced Satellite Image
Early Wednesday afternoon, Omar was 195 miles southwest of St. Croix, moving east-northeast at 13 mph. Hurricane hunter aircraft have determined that Omar’s maximum sustained winds are 85 mph, making the storm a category one hurricane.
Omar is expected to [...]

California Fires October 15, 2008

Wildfires in southern California are in the news again. The satellite picture below gives you a sense of the scope of the fires.
NASA Satellite Image courtesy of and enhanced by StormCenter Communications
The satellite picture shows the smoke being blown in a southwesterly direction, away from the fires. The length of the smoke column is an [...]