Historic Heat Wave. Severe Weather Plan Video

After three days of filling in the daily almanac for my morning graphics, I noticed a trend... The Record High dates kept staying the same as the previous day. So I went back into the archives and found this 4 day stretch of records. You'll notice the 23rd and 25th(today's date) both at 94F. That is the warmest ever for Baltimore.
I have frequently documented historic heat waves, and it still amazes me how frequently these 'waves' last 3 or 4 days. It takes a special pattern to develop first to establish a record, that it can last for a while.

Well, we are not in record heat, but this pattern will hold our temperatures up through the first half of the weekend. A series of showers will move through and knock out numbers down. First, a round of showers will try to move through tonight and early Saturday. Most of Saturday should be dry, but some thunderstorms will arrive in the afternoon and evening. Then Sunday will bring in the cooler temps and a better chance of steady rain. At least the new grass seed will get a drink. It's possible that 1-2 inches of rain may fall.
What would you do if a tornado struck? Do you have a family plan? Watch this video- this guy did.

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.

Historic Blizzards on this date

Today part of the two day anniversary of the Superstorm of 1993:
Records for Baltimore on March 13th 1993:
Lowest Barometer Reading: 28.51"
Wind Gust: 69mph
Snow: 11.3"
Mixed Precipitation: 2.45"
That includes the 1-2 inches of sleet and freezing rain. It was incredible ice that many people remember from that storm, on top of all of the snow.
Hagerstown had 20 inches of snow with 55mph winds claiming snow drifts up to 12 feet high!
Garrett County had 31 inches of snow. Which is more impressive when you consider that they had over 40 inches in the Great Nor'Easter a few months earlier in December (10-12)

I was in upstate New York for that storm where 3-4 feet of snow fell, also a record for Syracuse with 48 inches of total snow.

This same storm brought 4-10 inches of snow to Atlanta and measurable snow to northern Florida.
Florida derecho had winds reach 96mph in Tampa Bay. A line of tornadoes killed 10 people and were followed by flurries.

March 12-14 is also the anniversary of the Great Blizzard of 1888, also known as the White Hurricane.
I spent my summer before my senior year of college at WNET a PBS station in NYC. My internship was to develop a series for an Emmy Award Winning producer about significant weather events that have impacted history. This storm was the first in my research based on it's impact on the development of the New York City underground subway system. Until then, the trains were elevated- because underground trains created too much smoke pollution to the streets above, and the vibrations scared the horses. However these above ground trains (L's for elevated) got stuck in 3-5 foot snow drifts and frozen tracks. Thousands were trapped- and hundreds died.
This storm peaked on the 12th with a barometric pressure dropping under 29.00" as seen on this hand drawn weather map.
For Baltimore- today's date brought a record low of 12F- 1888. Also a record low max temperature of only 18F in the afternoon.
Below is the report from Wikipedia:

The weather preceding the blizzard was unseasonably mild with heavy rains that turned to snow as temperatures dropped rapidly.^[1] The storm began in earnest shortly after midnight on March 12, and continued unabated for a full day and a half. The National Weather Service estimated this incredible Nor'easter dumped 50 inches (1.3 m) of snow in Connecticut and Massachusetts while New Jersey and the state of New York had 40 inches (1.0 m).^[3] Most of northern Vermont received from 20 inches (50.8 cm) to 30 inches (76.2 cm) in this storm.^[4]

Drifts were reported to be 25-40 feet, over the tops of houses from New York to New England, with reports of drifts covering 3-story houses. The highest drift (52 feet (15.8 m)) was recorded in Gravesend, New York. Fifty eight inches of snow was reported in Saratoga Springs, New York; 48 inches in Albany, New York; 45 inches of snow in New Haven, Connecticut; and 22 inches of snow in New York City.^[5] The storm also produced severe winds; 80 miles per hour (129 km/h) wind gusts were reported, although the highest official report in New York City was 40 miles per hour (64 km/h), with a 54 miles per hour (87 km/h) gust reported at Block Island.^[5] New York's Central Park Observatory reported a minimum temperature of 6 °F (−14.4 °C), and a daytime average of 9 °F (−12.8 °C) on March 13, the coldest ever for March.^[5]

Storm EffectsThe storm, referred to as the Great White Hurricane, paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine,^[3] as well as the Atlantic provinces of Canada.^[1] Telegraphinfrastructure was disabled, isolating New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. for days. From Chesapeake Bay through the New England area, over 200 ships were either grounded or wrecked, resulting in the deaths of at least 100 seamen.^[5]

In New York, neither rail nor road transport was possible anywhere for days,^[6] and drifts across the New York—New Haven rail line at Westport, Connecticut took eight days to clear; transportationsubway system in the United States, which opened nine years later in Boston.^[7] gridlock as a result of the storm was partially responsible for the creation of the first underground

Fire stations were immobilized, and property loss from fire alone was estimated at $25 million.^[6] Severe flooding occurred after the storm due to melting snow—especially in the Brooklyn area, which was more susceptible to serious flooding due to its topography.^[5] Efforts were made to push the snow into the Atlantic Ocean. Over 400 people died from the storm and the ensuing cold, including 200 in New York City alone.

Hot Week- 1990

Today's (March 12) record high temperature in Baltimore was set at 86F. But downtown was 95F. The hottest in the nation that day, and the only time Baltimore has held that honor. It should be noted that was at the old Custom House site, where the sensors were on a black tar roof! Currently the city's official data recorded next to the Maryland Science Center- by the cooler Inner Harbor water. Regardless- it does mark a hot week in the nation when 283 record highs were set between the 11th and 15th. This extreme heat points to my theory of balance according to the law of averages. It was 12 days later- March 24th- Baltimore had a record 1.4" of snow.

The next storm:
Here is the Canadian outlook for Saturday morning. I skipped the next two days- because this is the expectation for another round of potential storms for a second Saturday in a row. With a 991mb Low in Garret County, and an active cold front with heavy rain seen in the image on the right- it looks like a wet day for us. The strong Low is only part of the equation. If we stay on the warm side, , and the front passes in the afternoon again- we could have strong thunderstorms or even a slight risk of severe weather. Winds will almost guarantee gusts over 40mph or higher is we don't get the severe storms.
Basically- I am looking for a 60F day on Friday- and night time temps may stay in the 50s. That Saturday temperature will play a role in the energy that can feed into the storm. Last week we surged well above expectations- so I will play this day with caution.
It's a matter of track that will determine who gets a heavy snow out of this- but most likely not us.

Severe Weather in March... A somber reminder

It was March 6, 2004 when a strong cold front blew through Baltimore's Inner Harbor with wind gusts to 55mph. Severe Storm criteria for a warning is 58mph. So no warning was issue until it actually hit the Harbor. Then a Special Marine Advisory was posted, but the accident already happened....
Ft. McHenry Water Taxi Accident
We stayed on TV for 7 hours while the search/rescue/and recovery took place. Our news crews did a great job with the reporting- but this hit too close to home. There was nothing we could do to warn anyone. It was a Saturday afternoon and who was watching TV at the time while temperatures were near 70F? By next year's anniversary- I hope to have a clip of our coverage from that storm. For now, here is the video of Storm Stories from The Weather Channel covering that event. I was honored to be included in this episode, but saddened by the actual event we had to report...There is a limit of 10 minutes for videos on YouTube- so I cut it into 2 parts. Just hit the menu button or wait until it's finished. For those of you who can not view this view from your computer- I am sorry- but it's the easiest way to post videos for this page.


I am away from my personal computer with files from that storm, but we did clock 55mph winds just a mile away at Sparrow's Point HS. The gust at BWI (5 miles away) was 47mph.If this storm had hit 5 miles north or south- it would have been a non event. Just a few garbage cans blown over. In fact Saturday's storm was stronger, which proves that timing and location can be more critical than the storm itself.
Tomorrow: Record heat in Baltimore again proving my theory of extremes...