Cold end to the week; Snow to rain this weekend

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A Wind Chill Warning has been issued for: Garrett and Western Allegany counties.

A Wind Chill Advisory has been issued for: the rest of the state.

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Arctic high pressure is settling in over the eastern half of the United States bringing record breaking cold air to the region. Northwest winds will combine with highs in the mid 10s to make it feel near 0° at times east of the mountains, while the mountains will only see highs in the low single digits. Additionally, there is a slight chance of isolated snow showers or flurries this afternoon. No accumulation is expected east of the mountains.

Lows tonight will fall into the low single digits to around 0° east of the mountains and below 0 in the mountains making it the coldest night of the season. Wind chill values will fall to -10 to -20 east of the mountains and to -20 to -40 in the mountains. This is dangerously cold air, do not go outdoors unless absolutely necessary tonight!

Tomorrow’s highs will only be in the mid teens east of the mountains and may not break out of the single digits west.

By Saturday, an area of low pressure will be nearing the area from the southwest. The storm still looks to pass by to our west meaning that eventually, the precipitation will fall as rain. The problem is, a good bit will fall as snow or a wintry mix first.

Right now, it looks like snow will develop during the afternoon hours Saturday and then transition to a snow/sleet mix by Saturday evening. During the overnight period, the snow/sleet will transition to sleet and then freezing rain for a bit. By early Sunday morning, most areas should be seeing plain rain.

The exact timing of the transitions and how much of each type of precipitation falls is highly dependent on the storm track and the details will be worked out tomorrow.