The Rain Helped … A Little April 23, 2012

Sunday’s wet weather helped the near term drought situation but did not fix it completely.The storm is moving north and may still add a little rain to the bucket into early Tuesday. Source: Naval Research Lab, Monterey, CA At BWI-Marshal, Sunday’s rain totaled 1.33 inches. April’s rain total now stands at 1.6 inches, .75 inches [...]

Area Needs More Rain April 18, 2012

As nice as the weather has been this spring, we really need some rain! April (through the 17th) is running 1.79 inches short. March-April 17 is running 3.93 inches short. January – April 17 is running 4.92 inches short. One of several forecast models (map below) shows that today’s rainfall will likely be inconsequential with [...]

Big Plains Storms Saturday & Sunday April 15, 2012

The Plains states were hit with a major tornado outbreak Saturday. Storms stretched from Texas to Iowa. The map above shows where the severe weather reports have been concentrated. Kansas seems to have been hardest hit. The image above shows one NWS radar image from Wichita, KS, just before midnight Central Time. I have annotated [...]

Where to Go During a Tornado April 10, 2012

April 8-14, 2012 marks Maryland’s Severe Weather Awareness Week.  On Wednesday, April 11, 2012, there will be a statewide tornado drill.  A message will be sent over the NOAA Weather Radio at 9:45 am, and an all clear message will follow at 10 am.  This is a great opportunity for schools, businesses and residents to [...]

Solar Eruption Debris Strikes Earths Magnetic Field March 8, 2012

Debris from the X5 class solar flare has reached the earth’s magnetosphere. The NASA image above was taken by the SOHO solar observation satellite. It shows the early stages of the coronal mass ejection shortly after the flare erupted from the sun’s surface. Materials blown away from the sun moved toward the earth at 1 million [...]

Big Solar Flare March 7, 2012

An X5 class solar flare known as a Coronal Mass Ejection erupted on the sun’s surface Monday night. The effects of the CME may reach earth by Thursday. The NOAA image of the sun was transmitted Wednesday morning. (Also: See video from NASA here) The location of the CME is the bright area on the [...]

Another Near Miss March 6, 2012

Another small winter storm moved across the area Monday and once again Baltimore was on the north edge of the precipitation with only a trace of snow measured at BWI-Marshall Airport. More significant snowfall was measured just to the south. The Tuesday morning visible satellite image shows the east/west snow band reaching across central Virginia [...]

Near Miss February 20, 2012

Our closest brush with a significant snow this season turned into yet another failure. The storm missed the Baltimore area by about 50 miles. The Monday midday visible satellite image clearly shows the snow accumulation in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. Below is a listing of snow accumulations from the National Weather Service. PUBLIC INFORMATION [...]

The Snowiest Time Of The Year…usually… February 11, 2012

There’s a little snow in the weekend forecast, but even in this very mild winter mid February snow is to be expected.  February, after all, is the snowiest month of the year, averaging 8.0″ over the past 30 years (January is 2nd snowiest with and average of 6.8″).  In fact, the February record book is filled [...]

Baltimore’s Most Severe Arctic Outbreak February 10, 2012

The coldest day on record for Baltimore is February 10, 1899.  That morning dawned with arctic high pressure centered near Lexington, KY (barometer: 30.64″) producing clear skies in Baltimore, an all-time record low of -7°, a northwest breeze of 8 mph, and a wind chill of -21°.  The afternoon high February 10, 1899 was just [...]