Forecast Updated on Sunday, January 16, 2021 at 5:45am by WBOC Meteorologist Mike Lichniak
Today: Rain arrives for most of Delmarva by late morning and lunchtime.The storm starts as a mix of sleet / freezing rain / rain for far northern and western Delmarva before going over to rain. Rain will be heavy at times and windy! Highs: 40-48. Winds: E-NE 20-50+ mph.
Tonight: ‘Rain continues for most of the night. It should begin to taper off around 3-4am. As the wind turns with the storm departing, the possibility of light snow / snow showers after dawn is possible. Lows: 37-45. Winds: NE-NW 15-40+ mph.
Monday: Partly to mostly cloudy with flurries or snow showers possible throughout the day. Windy. Highs: 38-46. Winds: NW 15-40+ mph.
Tuesday: Partly to mostly sunny. Highs: 36-42. Winds: NW 5-20 mph.
This massive storm is starting to turn up the coast this morning and will begin to overspread rain for most of us as we head toward the lunch hour. For those along the upper Mid-shore and far Northern Delmarva, this will start as some snow, transitioning to sleet and freezing rain, before going over to plain rain by the mid to late afternoon hours. As the storm continues to move north, the feed off the Atlantic will become immense and the rain will become heavy at times this evening into the first part of the overnight. The rain should taper off by the time the majority of us will be asleep, but the storm will not be done just yet. As the storm comes through and the wind turns from the northeast to the northwest, the shift in winds will pull in very cold air and bring the possibility of snow showers or even a quick burst of light snow across Delmarva tomorrow morning before the storm completely departs.
Another story we have to worry about with this storm is the wind we will be dealing with across the area. Expect to see the winds come up throughout the morning with our strongest winds by late afternoon into the evening tonight. When we see our strongest winds, wind gusts all over Delmarva could reach 50+ mph, with some gusts 60+ mph possible at our beach towns. This wind along with the strong pressure change at the center of the storm will create the opportunity for beach erosion and coastal flooding in our areas where we do see flooding during big storms. As the storm departs and the wind shifts back to the northwest, the stronger winds could cause some flooding concerns along the Chesapeake and in some of our river areas through tomorrow afternoon’s high tide cycle.
Monday will be a chilly and windy day on Delmarva as we will see the chance of a few lingering snow showers and flurries early in the day as the storm continues to depart to the north and west. High pressure takes control of the weather on Tuesday. Wednesday brings a weak cold front and the chance of a few rain showers for Wednesday night and early Thursday. Ahead of the front, temperatures on Wednesday get back to normal for this time of year in the mid to upper 40s. A strong high out of Canada pulls down some very cold air to wrap up the workweek with highs in the 20s and 30s for Friday.