Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Maryland, February 22, 2001

Name: Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Maryland, February 22, 2001
Start: 2001-02-22T09:00
End: 2001-02-22T22:00
Location: Maryland

February 22, 2001 · NWS LWX · 13 events in 13 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 10 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 13

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.

Low pressure moved from the mid Mississippi Valley into the southern portion of the Mid Atlantic region on the 22nd. This system produced mainly light to moderate snowfall across the region between 9 AM and 10 PM. However, some areas received a brief period of heavy snow at the beginning of the event. Snowfall amounts ranged from 3 to 7 inches. The highest amounts were recorded across Harford and Northern Baltimore Counties. The largest impact on the region from this storm system was on travel. Numerous accidents were reported as roads became slippery and some areas experienced brief whiteout conditions. In Prince George's County, 210 accidents involving minor injuries were reported between 11 AM and 2 PM. Among them was a 38 car pileup at the intersection of Branch Avenue and the beltway and a 15 car pileup at the intersection of Central Avenue and the beltway. Police reported 18 injuries with the first accident and 10 minor and 3 serious injuries with the second. In Calvert County, a school bus slid into a car and 30 children were taken to the hospital. In Anne Arundel County, 15 cars and a school bus collided on Route 50 near the South River. Six people were injured and the highway was shut down for three hours. Near Jacobsville, a pickup truck slid off a bridge on Fort Smallwood Road and landed in frigid Rock Creek. The two occupants were rescued from the hood of their vehicle and one was treated for minor injuries and mild hypothermia. On the southbound side of Interstate 95 north of Baltimore, a 40 vehicle pileup was reported at 12:20 PM. In Harford County, Interstate 95 was closed around 2:30 PM north of the White Marsh exit due to several accidents along the highway. Portions of Route 1 were also closed by accidents. Six county school buses were also involved in minor accidents.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Feb 22, 4:40 AM EST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 22, 4:40 AM EST, 4 hours 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
440 AM EST THU FEB 22 2001

STORM IS A COMIN. CLOUDS BEGINNING TO MOVE IN AND SNOW NOT FAR BEHIND.
PRECIP SHIELD AT BLF AND SW VA AT 430A. LOOKS ON TRACK FOR A 12Z START
TIME IN OUR SW CORNER. THIS WILL BE A QUICK HITTER WITH THE
ACCUMULATING SNOW MAINLY FALLING IN AN 8 HR WINDOW. ZONAL FLOW WILL
KEEP IT MOVNG. WILL BE SOME COASTL DVLPMNT THAT WILL SLOW IT A BIT FOR
THE DELMARVA AND NE MD...BUT EVEN THAT SHULD BE LIMITED. PRECIP WILL BE
ALL GONE FROM OUR NE CORNER BY 4-6Z.

GREAT ISENTRPC LIFT AND OMEGA. LAPSE RTES INCREASE DURING THE DAY AND
WOULDN/T BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME THUNDERSNW...ESP DC AND EAST. THIS
COULD AMPLIFY AMNTS IN SELECTD AREAS. THNK THIS IS A BORDERLINE WARNING
EVENT. AFTER CONF CALL WITH SURRNDG OFFICES...THNK BEST COURSE OF ACTN
IS WARNING FOR DC AND BALTO METRO AND SOUTH...WNTR WX ADV NW.  PRECIP
WILL BE OUT BY 00Z IN THE ADVSRY AREA...SO WILL JUST HAVE THAT FOR
THURS. THE WARN AREA WILL LIKELY LINGER INTO THE EVE...ESP NE MD...SO
WILL HAVE THE WARN EXP AT 10PM.

IN THE WARN AREA...THINK 3 TO 6 IS A GOOD BET WITH WIDESPRD 3 INCHES
AND SCT 6 INCH REPRTS. ADVRY AREA IS A BIT MORE SUSPECT WITH MORE
LIMTED MOISTURE...BUT SHULD BE ABLE TO SQUEEZE 1 TO 3 OUT OF THIS. MAY
BE SOME BRIEF MIXNG WITH RAIN IN CNTRL VA AND LWR S MD...BUT WITH GOOD
OMEGA AND DYNMC COOLNG...THNK ANY BRIEF MIXING WOULD BE NEGLGABLE AND
WILL LEAVE IT OUT FOR NOW.

MORNG RUSH SHOULD PASS UNEVENTFULLY EXCPT LATE RUSH IN THE CHO
AREA...BUT EVE RUSH LOOKS TO BE VERY PROBLMATC.

HIGH PRES MOVS IN FOR FRI WITH GOOD DWNSLPE...BUT SNOW CVR WILL HOLD
TMPS DOWN A BIT...UNDERCUT MOS FOR THIS REASON. HGH AXIS MOVES ACROSS
FRI NGHT. THIS CMBNED WITH SNOW CVR WILL ALLOW A COLD NIGHT...AGAIN
UNDERCUT MOS.

NXT STRM IS OVR THE WEEKEND.  WARM FRNT MOVES THRU LATE SAT AND SAT
NIGHT. MAY START WITH SOME MIXED PRECIP FOR PART OF THE AREA...BUT WILL
BE ALL RAIN FOR SAT NIGHT.  TROF MOVES THRU SUN AM AND MIDDAY...THEN
PSUNNY AND WARM. REAL COLD FRONT WAIT UNTIL SUN EVENING TO PASS WITH
BREEZY COOLER WX FOR SUN NIGHT AND MON.

STRONG
FCSTID = 78
DCA   31  24  46  25 /  90  60   0   0
BWI   31  23  46  25 /  90  70   0   0
MRB   29  21  45  22 /  90  30   0   0
IAD   29  21  45  22 /  90  30   0   0
CHO   31  21  46  25 /  90  30   0   0
HGR   29  21  45  22 /  90  30   0   0
NHK   31  24  46  25 /  90  60   0   0

.LWX...
DC...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 10PM FOR ZONE DCZ001.

MD...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 10PM FOR CENTRAL AND LWR SOUTHRN MD.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THURSDAY FOR ZONES MDZ002>005.T

VA...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 10PM FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST VA.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THURSDAY FOR ZONES VAZ021...VAZ026>031...
VAZ042.

WV...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THURSDAY FOR ZONES WVZ048>055.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 winter storm, 2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Allegany

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Allegany forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, Carroll

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Carroll forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.563, -77.022 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Northern Baltimore

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Northern Baltimore forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.443, -76.616 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Southern Baltimore / Baltimore (C)

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Southern Baltimore / Baltimore (C) forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.367, -76.614 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Harford

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Harford forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, Montgomery

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, Anne Arundel

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Anne Arundel forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.994, -76.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Calvert

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Calvert forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.535, -76.531 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, St. Mary'S

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: St. Mary'S forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.216, -76.529 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Prince Georges

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Prince Georges forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.830, -76.847 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Charles

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Charles forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.474, -77.013 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Washington

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.604, -77.814 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Frederick

When: February 22, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Frederick forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.472, -77.398 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Maryland in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Maryland, February 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5231798, 5231799, 5231800, 5231801, 5231802, 5231803, 5231804, 5231805, 5231806, 5231807, 5231808, 5231809, 5231810.