Winter Storm and Sleet in Maryland, January 30, 2000

A low pressure system developed in the western Gulf of Mexico during the day on the 28th. It slowly moved eastnortheast and by Sunday morning the 30th was located near Apalachicola, Florida, not too far from the location of the January 25th storm. Unlike the previous storm, this one tracked farther to the west and moved northeast along the Atlantic Seaboard. By the morning of the 31st, it was located near Boston, Massachusetts. There was less cold air present at the start of the storm, especially along the coastal plain. Most of it was in the lowest layers of the atmosphere. Precipitation started as snow in Cecil County, briefly as snow in Kent County and as sleet and freezing rain farther south along the Eastern Shore. After about an inch or two of snow, precipitation changed to freezing rain and sleet in Cecil County around 6 p.m. EST. Warm air was moving in from the nearby Atlantic and changed the freezing rain to plain rain. This took the longest near the Chesapeake Bay and northwest Cecil County. By 10 p.m. EST all precipitation had changed to plain rain. By then about one-quarter to one third of an inch of ice accrued on exposed surfaces. Untreated roadways were very treacherous and high traffic volume due to Super Bowl Sunday exacerbated the problems. Most of the reported accidents were in Cecil County as about 10 vehicles had spun into ditches.