MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A surprisingly strong winter storm is expected to pack a punch across the eastern panhandle, western Maryland and northern Virginia early Wednesday.
Accuweather Meteorologist Courtney Spamer said on MetroNews affiliate WEPM’s ‘Panhandle Live’ Tuesday that this one may catch some people off guard. The accumulation is expected to start between 2-3 Wednesday morning.
“The snow is going to come in heavy, and we’re talking about several inches of accumulation during the morning hours. Before we see that change over to sleet, probably mid to late morning, I think we could see as much as 6-10 inches of snow. So there certainly could be quite a bit of snow across the area. Then on top of that, we’re looking at sleet and ice continuing for tomorrow and tomorrow night.”
Spamer said while the snowfall is concerning, her agency is more concerned about the potential for a “significant amount” of accumulating ice.
“I think we could see ice over a tenth of an inch, maybe a quarter of an inch. As you get toward that quarter of an inch mark, that’s when you have the potential for some of this freezing rain to really attach itself to tree limbs and power lines. So there is the potential that we could be dealing with some power outages late tomorrow and and into tomorrow night as well.”
A Winter Storm Warning is in place for the entire Eastern Panhandle, western and central Maryland, northern Virginia from Tuesday night through Wednesday night. This includes the DC/Baltimore metropolitan areas.
Winter Storm Warnings posted for most of the area (pink). In Southern MD/Fredericksburg area, Winter Weather Advisories issued. Expect snow to overspread the area tonight. Traveling will be difficult Wed. Please visit https://t.co/DtvXcTe0Qk for detailed forecasts. pic.twitter.com/dhax6iVPdu
— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) February 19, 2019