If the National Weather Service is on target -- and it appears it will be -- 4 to 8 inches of snow and 30- to 40-mph winds will hit the Baltimore area late tonight and tomorrow.
"Possible blizzard conditions are forecast," said Barry Goldsmith, a weather service meteorologist in Sterling, Va. "All the conditions and timing are very good for a major snowstorm."
He said Baltimore should "look for a good dose of snow."
At least 4 to 8 inches could land in the city, and 12 inches to 2 feet in the northern suburbs and parts of Western Maryland, Mr. Goldsmith said.
There is a 100 percent chance that the storm will begin around midnight in the Baltimore area, snowing heavily for at least 12 hours Saturday before turning to light snow and flurries sometime Sunday morning, said Jim Bellville, also a weather service meteorologist at Sterling.
"The worst of the storm will be between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. tomorrow and between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. tomorrow," Mr. Goldsmith said.
He said conditions for a major snowstorm are similar to those that caused the blizzard of 1993, when nearly 2 feet of snow fell on the area.
Mr. Bellville said Maryland is directly in the path of the snowstorm.
He said frigid air from the Plains will combine with moist, warm air from the Carolinas to set off a snowstorm that will be full of energy. Winds between 35 and 40 mph are expected on the back side of the storm.
"You will not want to be out and about Saturday afternoon," said Mr. Goldsmith.
The winter of 1994-95 had appeared headed for the record books as the least snowy since meteorologists started keeping track in 1950.
Only 0.5 inches of snow has been measured at Baltimore-Washington International Airport -- 0.2 inches the night before Thanksgiving, and 0.3 inches last Saturday.
The record for minimal snowfalls at BWI was set in the winter of 1972-73, when 1.2 inches fell in February, with only traces recorded in the other months.
The average annual snowfall in Baltimore is 20.6 inches.