BALTIMORE, MD—The odds of the Baltimore area seeing a white Christmas are diminishing, but it will likely be one of the coldest in years.
The National Weather Service says a winter storm will bring a frigid air mass to the Mid-Atlantic states just in time for the holiday weekend.
The massive winter storm will bring everything from a blizzard in the Midwest to heavy rain and spotty snow followed by a rapid freeze-up in the South and East, leading to poor travel conditions across a huge chunk of the United States, according to Accuweather.
Very strong winds are expected to impact nearly the entire eastern half of the U.S. as this large system becomes fully mature by Thursday night. Winds will create blizzard conditions throughout the central/northern Plains, Upper Midwest, and Great Lakes as well as blowing and drifting snow over locations with fresh snow cover.
By Friday night, lows in the Baltimore area will be in the teens with a high on Christmas Eve (Saturday) of around 25 degrees. Overnight on Christmas Eve, temperatures will fall to around 13 degrees and Christmas Day will bring a high of only 26 degrees.
Meanwhile, a Winter Storm Watch has been issued for western Maryland, where residents will likely see 4 to 6 inches of snow and a quarter-inch of ice.
Additional information from the National Weather Service is available below.
An Arctic cold front arriving later this week will bring dangerous cold to much of the country, along with a sudden, rapid temperature drop, snow squalls in portions of the West, and the potential for flash freezes from the Mid-South to the East Coast. Here are the Key Messages. pic.twitter.com/XQshI3egLw
— NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) December 19, 2022
A winter storm forming along an incoming Arctic front is forecast to produce heavy snow & blizzard conditions for much of the Midwest & Great Lakes starting late Wednesday & through Christmas Eve. Extremely dangerous travel conditions are likely Thursday into Christmas Eve. pic.twitter.com/HrtfDqDBi5
— NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) December 20, 2022
Photo via Pixabay
