Hold on the the steering wheel! Tie down garbage cans and lawn furniture. Perhaps small dogs turn in to kites? OK, the last one is not likely, but my kids like it. As a testament to the hard hitting air today, The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory, primarily for the counties north and west of Baltimore. This is where the higher elevations and hill tops facing west especially will feel the full force. Winds will average close to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph!
The Advisory goes through 6 PM, so after the sun sets the winds should ease, but the peak upper levee energy will pass through this evening as I showed in this post this morning, and my chat about possible flurries or snow showers yesterday.
Areas impacted include: Westminster, Frederick, Hagerstown, Cumberland, and Forstburg in Maryland. Skyline Drive in Virginia. Most of central and southern Pennsylvania including Gettysburg, Hanover, York, and Lancaster.
Gale Warning For Chesapeake Bay
While the winds may not be as strong in lower elevations around metro Baltimore, the open water of the Chesapeake Bay presents a different challenge. A Gale Warning has been posted for winds up to 47 knots. That converts to gusts up to 54 mph. On the water, this can produce dangerous wave heights. The Beaufort Scale estimates 18 Ft+ waves, but the shallow and narrow Chesapeake Bay can’t support that. I was say easily over 5 foot waves that crest and break with lots of white caps.
If you drive over The Bay Bridge, there were no wind restrictions as of this post. But you can check baybridge.maryland.gov to see the latest info.
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