January 20 Weather Cold Weather Advisory And Gulf Coast Snowstorm

January 20, 2025

Monday Morning Report

Our recent snow has come and gone, with a boom inland and a bust for metro areas. While Baltimore only got 1 inch at BWI, 2 inches fell in the city, and up to 6 inches fell inland. I will have a full recap and grade my forecast later this morning.

The net result of a little or a lot of snow is simply this: Anything that was wet and untreated is icy now! We are in the deep freeze, and it will get colder. A new Cold Weather Advisory goes into effect for the entire region tonight, as wind chills will drop well below zero. We will stay below freezing all week!

Polar Vortex ‘Influence’: The actual circulation will be in Canada and will bring the coldest air Wednesday morning; then we will modify a little but stay cold into the weekend

This cold air is feeding into a rare snowstorm for Texas and the Gulf Coast. This will include heavy snow from Houston to New Orleans and an ice storm for North Florida. More on that below.

Winter Weather Alerts

• The old Winter Storm Warning remains in the mountains this morning.
• Cold Weather Advisory kicks in tonight. This is a new alert that replaced the former alerts for wind chills. “Feel like” temps may drop to -5F in metro and coastal areas. Down to -15F in the mountains.

Morning Temperatures and Wind Chills

Morning Surface Weather

The Polar Air is dominating as expected. Our old storm is racing east of Maine.

A new storm will make the headlines this week across the Gulf Coast.

Snow and ice will affect the Deep South on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Storm Animation

Monday Evening to Wednesday Evening

Southern Snow and Ice Storm

Winter Weather Alerts

The Winter Storm Warning is in effect for Houston and New Orleans. Today, more alerts will extend to Northern Florida.

These areas DO NOT have snow removal equipment. So unless equipment arrives from other locations to help, it will stay for days.

Snapshot Texas

Yes, models do show 4 to 8 inches of snow near Houston and an Ice Storm for Corpus Christi.

Snapshot Louisiana

Yes, the Canadian Model is showing 6 to 10 inches of snow by Lake Charles. The range of 3 to 6 inches is possible for New Orleans.

Florida on Wednesday

ICE STORM: Northern Florida and southern Georgia could experience over 1 inch of freezing rain and up to 2 inches of sleet.

This, plus the cold, is going to damage citrus crops.

LOCAL WEATHER

CLIMATE DATA: Baltimore

TODAY January 20

Sunrise at 7:22 AM

Sunset at 5:14 PM

Normal Low in Baltimore:  25ºF

Record -3ºF in 1994

Normal High in Baltimore: 43ºF

Record 71ºF 1951

Baltimore Seasonal Snow

8.9” (This Will Change Today)

TUESDAY WEATHER

Temperatures and Bitterly Cold Wind Chills. There may be some flurries inland as well.

Morning

Afternoon

Week Outlook

The Jet Stream will be dominated by the push of Polar Air. The actual Polar Vortex will be in Canada, but dislodged to influence the ENTIRE Eastern US.

This may produce snow for the Gulf Coast, and we need to watch something try to slide along the Mid-Atlantic or Southeast Coast.

Jet Stream: Tuesday to Saturday

The core of the cold air will pass by Wednesday Morning:

Wednesday Morning Temperatures

Locally near zero with -10s in the mountains.

The deep freeze will reach the Florida Panhandle with 10s and 20s.

Storm Animation (Canadian Model)

Wednesday to Friday

Snapshot Thursday Afternoon

We need to watch our coast for some snow to maybe clip the beaches.

Maryland Special Olympics Super Plunge

This is my second year doing 24 plunges in 24 hours. It starts this Friday.

There may be ice on the Bay… and I will show you.

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7 Day Forecast

Dangerously cold for a few days!

Gradual warming trend by this weekend… only to near freeing.

I expect there will be ice forming in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay.

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SNOW REPORTS THIS SEASON

Click on the maps for that full report.

January 11 Snow Report

January 6 Snow Report

Previous Snow

November 22 Snow Report

ALSO SEE

Arctic Outbreak For January

If you missed it, here is my detailed report from December 30 about why this IS A BIG DEAL!

MY WINTER OUTLOOK

My Winter Outlook Report

FITF Gear on Sale

In Case You Missed This

The Faith In The Flakes Dec 5 Origin Story

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RESTATING MY MESSAGE ABOUT DYSLEXIA

I am aware there are some spelling and grammar typos and occasional other glitches. I take responsibility for my mistakes and even the computer glitches I may miss. I have made a few public statements over the years, but if you are new here, you may have missed it: I have dyslexia and found out during my second year at Cornell University. It didn’t stop me from getting my meteorology degree and being the first to get the AMS CBM in the Baltimore/Washington region. One of my professors told me that I had made it that far without knowing and to not let it be a crutch going forward. That was Mark Wysocki, and he was absolutely correct! I do miss my mistakes in my own proofreading. The autocorrect spell check on my computer sometimes does an injustice to make it worse. I also can make mistakes in forecasting. No one is perfect at predicting the future. All of the maps and information are accurate. The ‘wordy’ stuff can get sticky.  There has been no editor who can check my work while writing and to have it ready to send out in a newsworthy timeline. Barbara Werner is a member of the web team that helps me maintain this site. She has taken it upon herself to edit typos when she is available. That could be AFTER you read this. I accept this and perhaps proves what you read is really from me… It’s part of my charm. #FITF