I must confess it was tough traveling on Sunday. I was driving (solo) during the afternoon and the sky was so incredible, it was hard to stop looking up instead of the road. Every turn seemed to be even more awesome as the dark clouds and dramatic streaks contrasted with bright sun, moderate changing fall foliage. I didn’t crash and I restrained myself from taking photos until I could pull over. While I can not endorse pictures while driving, I have to use a few pics I got today that show off this rare event. For this occasion I will assume that a passenger took this and sent them in. Please see more below. 
“What was this?”, many people asked. This was classic Lake Effect shower weather, something I grew familiar with during college and my first two jobs in central New York. We can get this occasionally in Maryland, but the first of the season is brand new to some. In fact, we don’t get pure Lake Effect showers in Maryland, but rather ‘enhanced’ by upper level support since we live too far from the lakes and have mountains in the way. *I had a professor at Cornell that was a stickler for that.
Some showers can be intense, but long narrow bands can allow for light on both sides making for interesting views as the clouds appear to be spilling over to the ground.
On rare occasions we can spot Bay Effect clouds. That is when the wind is almost from the due north. More like 340 degrees (N-NW) across the Bay. These long streaks of narrow clouds, or plumes were seen on visible satellite this morning across the southern Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. 
A plume from Lake Erie reached Bel Air at sunset and was captured by Jeff Perkins. This is not exactly the same as the satellite image above, but gives an idea of these lone narrow clouds that ride the wind. Since they can be a few miles or less across, the sky can be sunlit on either side while heave rain or snow is falling underneath. The result makes for interesting lighting and clouds that can appear to be dropping to the ground.
Video Time Lapse Over Baltimore
Precipitation: What was that frozen stuff?
We had sun, rain, snow, sleet, graupel, and even hail. The National Weather Service put together a neat graphic explaining the difference of these types of precipitation. I might have to reuse this as need be. Make sure you keep scrolling down for more photos. Check out some of these top photos demonstrating what I and many saw today. 
Some Stickage
Also see:
- Video Proof of MD Snow: Which is cuter, the boy or dog?
- 8 Great Rainbow Photos today (Oct 18 2015)
- Average First Frost in Maryland-Map and charts
- First Snow Stickage Photos And Video
- First Flakes Of Snow In Maryland
- Lake Effect Snow Showers and Waterspouts
- NOAA’s Winter 2016 Outlook
- New NWS Forecast Zones Split Counties (2014)
Please share your thoughts, best weather pics/video, or just keep in touch via social media
- Facebook: Justin Berk, Meteorologist
- Twitter: @JustinWeather
- Instagram: justinweather
Get the award winning Kid Weather App I made with my oldest son and support our love for science, weather, and technology. Our 3 year anniversary of the release and our contribution to STEM education is this November. It has been downloaded in 60 countries, and works in both temperature scales. With your support we can expand on the fun introduction to science and real weather.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
