The National Weather Service forecast office in Mt. Holly, NJ has expanded Blizzard Warnings to the Upper Shore of Maryland, including Kent, Queen Anne's, Caroline and Talbot counties.
The warning is in effect until 7 p.m. Saturday. The additions fill in a gap in a swath of Blizzard Warnings that extends from southern Maryland to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Harford County, parts of the Eastern Shore, Delaware and coastal New Jersey.
In addition to the falling anow, as the coastal low intensifies today, winds will increase across the wearning area. Blizzard conditions include falling or blowing snow, with winds in excess of 35 mph decreasing visibilities to less than a quarter mile for a period in excess of three hours.
Here's a portion of the warning:
"HEAVY SNOW WAS OCCURRING ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING AND
WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF TODAY. THE SNOW WILL FALL HEAVILY
AT TIMES...WITH RATES UP TO 1 TO 3 INCHES AN HOUR. THE HEAVIEST
SNOW WILL OCCUR THROUGH ABOUT MIDDAY TODAY. THE SNOW MAY MIX WITH
SLEET AT TIMES EARLY THIS MORNING MAINLY ACROSS SOUTHERN TALBOT
AND CAROLINE COUNTIES...AND MAY BE INTERMITTENT THERE AS WELL.
"STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 20 TO 27 INCHES ARE EXPECTED. AN
INCREASING NORTHEAST TO NORTH WIND WITH GUSTS OF 35 TO 40 MPH
INTO EARLY THIS AFTERNOON WILL CREATE EXTENSIVE BLOWING AND
DRIFTING SNOW...ALONG WITH WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. THE WIND COMBINED
WITH THE FALLING SNOW WILL CREATE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS
INCLUDING GREATLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN ONE QUARTER
MILE AT TIMES."
Forecasters out at Sterling, meanwhile, now say Baltimore and D.C. are not likely to break the all-time snowfall records for either city.
On the other hand, they say, both cities have already set new snowfall records for Friday's date, breaking marks set more than a century ago. "So this can still be called a record-breaking storm," they said.
For Baltimore, that busted record for Feb. 5 was 6.4 inches, set in 1899. The new record is 7.5 inches. Looks like we have also broken the Feb. 6 record of 8.4 inches set in 1978.
In Washington, the old record for Feb. 5 was 7.5 inches, set on this date 1892. The new record, set yesterday, is 8.7 inches. The record for Feb. 6 was 4.4 inches, set in 1983. That one's toast, too.