Alert archive / Virginia / Extreme Cold Warnings in 2026

Extreme Cold Warning 2, NWS Baltimore/Washington

January 25, 202616 counties in Virginia; Allegany County, Garrett County, Maryland; Grant County, Mineral County, Pendleton County, West Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this extreme cold warning at Jan 25, 2026, 11:13 PM EST for 16 counties in Virginia; Allegany County, Garrett County, Maryland; Grant County, Mineral County, Pendleton County, West Virginia. It took effect at Jan 26, 2026, 7:00 PM EST. It was in force for 64 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jan 25, 2026, 11:13 PM EST (04:13 UTC)
In effect from: Jan 26, 2026, 7:00 PM EST
Expired: Jan 29, 2026, 11:00 AM EST
In force: 64 hr
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington

All 21 counties

Allegany County, MD, Garrett County, MD, Albemarle County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Augusta County, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Harrisonburg, VA, City of Staunton, VA, City of Waynesboro, VA, Greene County, VA, Highland County, VA, Madison County, VA, Nelson County, VA, Page County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA, Rockingham County, VA, Warren County, VA, Grant County, WV, Mineral County, WV, Pendleton County, WV

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:13 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 239 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 451 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 124 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 311 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 432 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this extreme cold warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before this extreme cold warning went out at Jan 25, 3:43 PM EST, 7 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 25, 3:43 PM EST, 7 hours 30 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 25, 4:19 PM EST, 6 hours 54 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 25, 6:38 PM EST, 4 hours 35 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jan 25, 6:41 PM EST, 4 hours 32 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jan 25, 6:42 PM EST, 4 hours 31 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jan 25, 6:43 PM EST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jan 25, 6:45 PM EST, 4 hours 28 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jan 25, 6:54 PM EST, 4 hours 19 minutes before

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The office that day

Everything else NWS Baltimore/Washington issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 25, 10:44 PM EST	Small Craft Advisory	LWX		32 hr
Jan 25, 11:13 PM EST	Cold Weather Advisory	LWX	Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick and 19 more	4 days
Jan 26, 12:38 AM EST	Heavy Freezing Spray Advisory	LWX		30 hr
Jan 26, 8:57 AM EST	Winter Weather Advisory	LWX	Garrett	14 hr

Nearby

Extreme Cold Warnings in Virginia, 2026 Extreme Cold Warnings in West Virginia, 2026 Extreme Cold Warnings in Maryland, 2026 Every extreme cold warning in 2026

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.