No Foolin'

Yes, it's April 1st, but I wanted to add the disclaimer that all I write today is legit. Some might be hard to believe, but it's the truth.
Today's weather at the bottom of this post...
First, let's go back 11 years to the April Fools Snow Storm of 1997.
It was a storm that began as rain on March 31st, but closed off, and essentially got stuck off the coast until April 2nd. While Baltimore got only 1 inch, parts of Maryland just east of the beltway to Cecil County got between 3 and 6 inches. Boston had it's heaviest April snow with 25 inches, and parts of New England got close to 3 feet. The storm winner was East Jewett, NY with 37 inches. with Click here for the full storm recap from the National Climatic Data Center.
Here are two 'screen shots' from The Weather Channel covering the storm.












We've had a wide variety of weather around the nation yesterday. I've made this map to highlight the, well, highlights.
Snow: Vail, Co- good extension to the ski season with 13 inches of snow, but there was a 50 car pile up on I-70.
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN- 5-8 inches of snow yesterday. One of the few places west of the Appalachians with below normal snow this year.
Tornado: 5 reports yesterday, but the most damage was in Lawrence, MO. Minor roof damage, and a pole down in a trailer park.

Today's temperatures should reach close to 70F. Considering that it was 61F at 5am, that's not too much of a stretch. Expect winds gusting to 30mph or higher as a cold front passes this afternoon. The storm has already peaked, so the energy has split to our south. The chance of thunderstorms has dropped to about 30%, but showers will be a welcome since we are still 2.78" below normal on rainfall for the year.

This Cold, There Must Be Snow!

After winds pushing 50-60mph Sunday, the rapid change resulted in a 68 car pile up on I-81 in PA. My parents got stuck in the road closure, and thankfully not part of the wreckage. If was my dad who made a 'pit stop' and that delay allowed them to miss the accident by 5-10 minutes. How's that for luck? In western MD, Wisp Ski Resort was able to muster 2.5 inches out of this system. Better than nothing, huh?
Happy Anniversary! It's 25 years honoring the great Blizzard of 1983. I am having trouble finding a snowfall map of the event, but here is the official statement from NWS Sterling:

February 11-12, 1983: The Blizzard of 1983 beat the Presidents' Day Storm and was the second greatest snowfall for Baltimore since records began. It covered an unusually large area of Virginia and Maryland with more than a foot of snow. Two feet of snow lay in a band across Washington, Frederick, Montgomery, Carroll, Howard and Baltimore Counties. The storm set a new 24 hour snowfall record at Baltimore with 22.8 inches. Parts of Northern Virginia up into western Maryland measured as much as 30 inches on the ground. Hagerstown reported 25 inches of snow (its second greatest storm behind the January 1996 snowstorm). For a couple hours of the storm, snow fall at an amazing rate of 3.5 inches per hour. Thunderstorms intensified the snowfall in some areas.Winds gusted over 25 mph all day on February 11 causing drifts up to five feet. The heavy snow and winds paralyzed the region. The cost of clearing the snow from roads was in the millions of dollars.

The next system will race in on this northern branch of the jetstream. The approaching system is running up against this very dry arctic air. It may waste it's potential snow on virga- just to saturate the atmosphere and allow the warm air to move in by evening. However, I have to throw in the chance for some light snow late Tuesday afternoon, but rain is more likely overnight. The developing storm will ride to our west bringing warmer temps and rain on Wednesday.

The Canadian Model here for Thursday morning is the most aggressive with the second part of this week's storm. While there does seem to be a second low forming over the gulf stream, the wrap around moisture and cold air filtering in does appear to be promising for a snow burst before sunrise.
This continues to be an active season, just waiting for things to line up for us. Beyond this departure, there is another shot for snow or a mix developing over the weekend.

Final Note: With the results of my Morning TV Poll complete, I now pose this question: To those who watch another station, why? Is it habit? Just don't like ABC2?

Shave and Snow

Yesterday's snowfall explained is in the the post below..
First: Thanks for the support about the snow beard in the first place. One last time- let me explain. I pledged not to shave until we got 2 inches of snow- to show my confidence that winter was not done. Then it snowed, but the online poll endorsed the idea to leave it 1 more day and shock the parents. That was last weekend. ABC2 wanted me to shave live on TV Monday- but the shaver did not show up. Guys- help me out here. It's not easy to shave a dry beard. So I cut most of it- but left the goatee (or Van Dyke- whatever it's called) just for the end of the day. The beard was gone... My wife who put up with the beard, actually liked it. Then I got dozens of emails saying I should keep it. Guys- what would you do? Well, after just a few complaints that I did not keep my word I decided to end the shave it all off on the air this morning. Denise Dorey helped out- and the video may show up online later today. So it's gone, I kept my word to all- and now I begin to grow another one, at least for February.
Today is the anniversary of the 14-18 inches of snow we got in 2000. It was a storm I am proud to say that was missed by the National Weather Service- but I caught the day before. The new mainframe super computers were just online and had the storm skipping off of the coast, but instead it turned the corner and slammed us. Blizzard conditions with wind gusts to 45mph and 'thunder snow' dominated the day. That was part of the 10 day winter that year- which brought us 23 inches total at BWI.
I was working at WBAL at the time, but below is one of my favorite live shots the day after this storm- digging a car out on Falls Road: For the record: Tony Pann still lives in the area- and works at Channel 9 in DC.