Winter continues to hang on in Baltimore on this extra day of February. Leap Day brings snow loves across central Maryland the hope that we climb out of the drought stricken snow basement.
Still no snow measured at the airport this month making it a new snow record out of all the verified records since 1893. Besides not having any snow in the month of February we sit in 5th place when it comes to snow-less stretches including the month of October through the end of February when it comes to snow totals.
For the year we remain at 1.8" of snow which ties us for 3rd all time snow-less records. Our counterparts to the west of us though in the snow belt of Maryland have received upwards of a foot of snow over the last 36 hours with more snow falling as we speak. Snow lovers across the I-95 stretch continue to look to March when it comes to that fantasy storm. The word "fantasy" really sums up this Winter and I hate to say it but the overall pattern continues to look grim.
Yes it feel like Winter today in Baltimore with flurries flying for some and air temperatures around 40 degrees. Lows tonight fall back into the 20s but by Sunday afternoon a pretty substantial rebound toward 50 degrees. This has been the trend this winter. A few warm days followed by a few cold days. Storm track stays in and around the mountains keeping snow way to our west while keeping us in the rain.
The first few days of March will be no different. A dry Sunday with highs near 50 degrees will bring on increasing clouds late and even warmer conditions with highs popping 60 degrees Monday. Our next storm system although unorganized rolls in shortly after that with rain showers late Monday into Tuesday.
A warm front first pushing temps toward the mid 60s Tuesday even with the rain before a weak cold front sagging south midweek. Highs on Wednesday even with the front passing through will remain in the low to mid 60s before a drop back into the 50s Thursday.
Rain chances on both of these days looks to be lower although the GFS model remains the outlier here keeping heavier pockets of rain early to midday Wednesday then again Thursday morning. There is still several days for this model run to change compared to the others in the overall model suite.
Late next week brings back some of the cold with highs returning into the 40s and more rain instead of snow. What's new there a few warm days followed up by few wet days then chilly temps east while the snow fires back up over the western Maryland and West Virginia mountains. The long range 8-14 day trends illustrate this fairly well with continued above average temperatures and normal precipitation spreads across the area. With all that said we may just halve to "Stick A Fork In it" when it comes to the 2019-2020 Winter season.
Spring is less than 20 days and more of those mild days will be here before you know it. Hey why not break out a pair of short sleeves and maybe even the shorts for the new week ahead. Gotta enjoy the warmth whenever comes around, right!!
