Heavy snow and sleet are likely throughout the night. Immediate Bayside locations may mix with rain as well. So far, most of the region has already seen 4-9" of snow, and we still have 24 hours to go! High winds are also starting to become problematic. Road conditions are deteriorating FAST. Stay off the roads to allow those who have to be on the roads as easily of a time as possible. Traveling tonight and tomorrow could be life threatening. Snow Emergencies have been issued for each county in Southern MD. That means prohibited parking on roads and streets designated as snow emergency routes. Also, the use of snow tires/chains is recommended (most cars now use all weather tires, so changing to "snow" tires is unnecessary). Winds right now are averaging 25-30mph gusting up to 35-40mph. I suspect we'll start to see more power outages now. Trees and branches will also start to fall. Once blizzard conditions are reported, SMECO will suspend restoration efforts until the winds diminish, sometime late Saturday. The highest winds are expected from 1am to 1pm Saturday. The Precipitation Type everyone started with was some snow this afternoon around noon, and has been picking up in intensity since then. 1-2" snow hour rates are likely at times tonight. As forecasted, some may have sleet mixed in with the snow. We could also see just straight sleet tonight for a period. Areas in southern St. Mary's could also see some rain. The time for mixing is from 10pm (now) through 8-9am Saturday, then we head back to all snow. The further south you head, the higher the chance of sleet and rain mixing in. The Bottom Line is that conditions are deteriorating across Southern Maryland. The heavy snow and sleet will make travel near impossible and the high winds will knock power out and prevent SMECO from working on the issues right away. The worst conditions from this Blizzard will be felt from 1am tonight through 1pm Saturday afternoon. 4-9" of snow has already been reported, and we're just getting started. Our forecast of 12-18" (south of 231) and 18-24" (north of 231) look to be spot on. Below is an image of my snow totals so far that I've measured. NOTE: Due to possible power outages, I may not be able to update the website. Check our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates as well. Stay with the JB Weather team for the latest.
Lead Forecaster -John Bordash
1 Comment
Kelly
1/22/2016 07:41:05 pm
In regards to all weather tires vs snow tires, switching to snow tires is actually recommended. All weather tires do well in all types of weather but snow tires are designed specifically to help with traction in the snow and have deeper treads that grip better than all weather tires do in the snow.
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