[CALV-AUXCOMM] ** Weather Update **

[Shawn Donley]

WX Update...

Updates are highlighted.
BLUF: Winter weather is expected to impact the State beginning late Thursday evening through Friday. There is also a slight winter storm threat for freezing rain west of I-95 on Sunday.

Details:
* Snow accumulation amounts 
o 3-5" across the majority of Maryland, with local higher amounts possible, mostly projected for far western Garrett Co (5-8"). Highest amounts are expected around the mid- and northern Chesapeake Bay. The lower shore is expecting the least, 2-4"
o Heavy snow bands are expected with rates of 1"/hour, primarily in the I-95 to NE Maryland corridor, though the exact area is uncertain at this time.
o Reasonable worst case scenario is 4-7" for the majority of the state, with lower amounts in the lower shore and St. Mary's Co.
* Timing: snow will begin in western Maryland mid-day, and will begin in the western Baltimore metro region toward the tail end of the evening commute, moving eastward. Heaviest snow will be between 10pm-4am across the state. Snow is anticipated to end by Friday morning around dawn.
* Gale force winds are expected over the bay, with 25-35mph wind gusts over land across most of Maryland, 30-40mph expected in Ocean City. Winds are expected to increase after the snow, primarily Friday day into Friday evening.
* Low temperatues will be in the teens in Western Maryland, and hovering around freezing throughout the rest of the state, with wind chills in the teens (near 0 in Western MD).

Impacts: 
* Roads and transportation systems will be impacted by this event. 
* COVID-19 vaccination and testing operations may be impacted Friday - MDEM has reached out to MDH COVID team to determine status.
* Power: 11AM Update, SMECO is down to 1,889 customers out (258 outage locations). This includes new outages that came in yesterday and last night. The majority of storm-related outages in St. Mary’s County were restored last night. SMECO now anticipates that the majority of storm related outages in Calvert, Charles and Prince George's Counties will be restored by tonight (Thursday), with the exception of western Charles County, which will be restored by Friday night.