A passing upper level disturbance triggered light rain across the Mid-Atlantic. High pressure building south from New England resulted in a wedge of cold air, keeping surface temperatures at or just below freezing mainly at higher elevations, which resulted in areas of light ice accumulation.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
A passing upper level disturbance triggered light rain across the Mid-Atlantic. High pressure building south from New England resulted in a wedge of cold air, keeping surface temperatures at or just below freezing mainly at higher elevations, which resulted in areas of light ice accumulation.
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 Dec 4, 2:53 PM EST, 2 hours 7 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 253 PM EST THU DEC 4 2014 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE LINGERS ALONG THE NORTHEASTERN SEABOARD THROUGH FRIDAY. LOW PRESSURE DRIFTS EAST ACROSS FROM THE MID-SOUTH STATES FRIDAY NIGHT AND ACROSS THE MID- ATLANTIC SATURDAY. MORE HIGH PRESSURE IS EXPECTED NORTH OF THE AREA EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... THE LEADING OF A REGIONAL-SCALE BATCH OF RAIN NOW SLIDING INTO THE WINDWARD SIDES OF THE SRN/CNTRL APLCNS. HIGH PRESSURE TO OUR NORTH WILL ACTUALLY STRENGTHEN AS IT MOVES EAST...FROM THE GREAT LAKES TO NEW ENGLAND THIS EVE INTO EARLY FRI. THIS FEATURE WILL HELP TO USHER-IN ANOTHER WEAK CAD SITUATION W/ INCOMING OVERRUNNING PRECIP FROM THE WEST. THE PRECIP HOWEVER IS NOT ASSOCIATED W/ A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM...MERELY A MINOR UPPER WAVE CAUGHT IN THE ZONAL UPPER PATTERN. THE MOISTURE LARGELY WAS DRAWN FROM THE GULF COAST REGION AND WILL WANE IN THE COMING HRS AS THE FORCING WEAKENS. TEMPS WILL HOVER IN THE 40S FOR MUCH OF THE AREA AND ONLY DROPPING TO THE U30S EVEN ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN AS RAIN APPROACHES AND AFFECTS THE WRN HALF OF THE AREA. LATEST RUNS OF THE HRRR BRING IN SEVERAL WAVES OF LIGHT RAIN OVER THE WRN ZONES OF THE APLCNS BUT DISSIPATE MUCH OF THE ACTIVITY THAT ATTEMPTS TO REACH OR CROSS THE NRN VA BLUE RIDGE. EVEN THOUGH YESTERDAY WAS A FAIRLY HUMID DAY IN TERMS OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...A LARGE REGION OF DRY AIR IS MOVING OVERHEAD - AS INDICATED BY THE 12Z KIAD SOUNDING. BELOW 850MB... SUBSTANTIALLY LESS DRY BUT CONSIDERING THE INCOMING CIG HEIGHTS ARE MOSTLY ABOVE 10KFT...IT WILL TAKE A WHILE FOR THE BOUNDARY LAYER TO SATURATE AND FOR PRECIP TO REACH THE SFC. BECAUSE OF THE RELATIVE WEAKNESS OF THE INCOMING WAVE...NOT ANTICIPATING A GOOD COLD AIR SURGE FROM THE NORTH. A MORE POTENT LOW PRES SYSTEM WILL BE GEARING UP EVEN FURTHER BACK TO OUR WEST TONIGHT INTO TMRW...BUT NOT CLOSE ENOUGH TO MAXIMIZE THE CAD ABILITIES OF THE NEW ENGLAND 1040MB HIGH. SOME IN-SITU DAMMING WILL BEGIN LATER TONIGHT THAT WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO DECREASE TOWARD THE FREEZING MARK BUT NOT QUITE GET THERE FOR MUCH OF THE AREA BY EARLY FRI MRNG. LOOKING THRU AREA FORECAST SOUNDINGS USING 12Z GUIDANCE...NAM/GFS BOTH INDICATE THE WARM NOSE FAIRLY ELEVATED - IN THE 5-8KFT RANGE AND ALSO A POCKET OF DRIER AIR BELOW THE INVERSION THAT HANGS-IN THRU MID MRNG MON. LOW CONFIDENCE IN THE FREEZING RAIN POTENTIAL FOR SPECIFIC LOCATIONS AND TIMING. NO HEADLINES FOR THIS UPCOMING FORECAST UPDATE...W/ AN EMPHASIS ON A LIGHT WINTRY MIX FOR THE HIGHER TERRAIN INTO THE OVERNIGHT HRS. HEADING INTO THE PREDAWN HRS...ONLY POCKETS OF FZRA ARE EXPECTED AND MAINLY IN A SHALLOW LAYER FOR SPECIFIED HIGHER RIDGELINES IN THE POTOMAC HIGHLANDS AND POSSIBLY SOME SHELTERED VLYS W/ COLD AIR TRAPPING. MAY HAVE SUPER-COOLED RAIN IN THE ABSENCE OF A STRONGER COLD/DRY PUSH FROM THE NORTH. THE INCOMING PRECIP ALSO LOOKS TO BE VERY LIGHT AND INTERMITTENT AS THE FORCING FOR THE PRECIP TAPERS OFF INTO THE EARLY MRNG HRS. WILL MONITOR THE INCOMING PRECIP...TEMP TRENDS...AND NEWER GUIDANCE FOR POTENTIAL WINTER HEADLINES. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... WV OF LOPRES IN THE MID OHVLY SAT MRNG WL MARCH ACRS THE CWFA DURING THE DAY. ECMWF TRENDING SLOWER/FURTHER S THAN CONSENSUS. WL NOT BE JUMPING ON BOARD YET. INSTEAD...KEEPING FCST MID-PACK. REGARDLESS... SAT LOOKING LIKE A WET DAY FOR AREA AS 40 KT H8 FLOW AHD OF LOW WL SUPPLY NOT ONLY MSTR BUT THTE RDG/UPGLIDE TO WRING IT OUT. CAT POPS AREAWIDE...SPCLY E WHERE LLJ RESIDES. CFP SAT LT AFTN-EVE. DRY AIR CRASHES IN BEHIND...WHICH MEANS WL ALSO HV SOME GUSTY WINDS. UPSLP POTL DOESNT LOOK THAT GREAT EITHER. CAN SEE CLDS BANKING UP AGAINST THE WRN SLOPES...BUT COLUMN TOO DRY/INVSN COMES TOO QUICK FOR PCPN. WL KEEP 20-25 KT GUSTS SAT NGT...AND KEEP IT BREEZY INTO SUN. HIPRES WL BLD SUN. ECMWF ONCE AGN SLOWER THAN GFS IN CLRG. COMPROMISED A LTL DURING THE MRNG...OTRW WL HV A MOSUN-SUNNY DAY. DUE TO TRACK OF LOW...DONT THINK WE/LL HV A CAD WEDGE TO DEAL WITH...AND RAISED MAXT SAT INTO LWR 50S. STILL WONT BE A PLEASANT DAY...JUST NOT AS COOL/RAW. LTLCG NCSRY SAT NGT-SUNDAY. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... DRY...COLDER AIRMASS WILL BUILD OVER THE MID ATLANTIC REGION SUNDAY NIGHT. ON MONDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN RETURNING AS THE SURFACE LOW STARTS MOVING TOWARD EASTERN CANADA. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WILL INCREASE MONDAY NIGHT THHROUGH TUESDAY WHEN AN STRONG SHORTWAVE CROSSES THE AREA. MAY BE ENOUGH COLD AIR IN PLACE TO SUPPORT SCATTERED LIGHT WINTRY MIX WEST OF THE BLUE RIDGE MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING. && .AVIATION /20Z THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... DENSE HIGH CLOUDS NOW OVERHEAD AND WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD FOR THE COMING HRS THIS EVE. A FEW BATCHES OF RAIN WILL WORK THEIR WAY OVER THE APLCNS AND TOWARD THE WRN DC SUBURBS BUT LARGELY DISSIPATE BEFORE REACHING THE BLUE RIDGE. CIGS WILL CONTINUE TO DROP OVER THE COURSE OF THE EVE/NIGHTTIME HRS BUT STAY W/IN VFR RANGES TO HIGH-END MVFR BRIEFLY DURING THE PREDAWN FRI MRNG. HIGH PRESSURE MOVING NORTH OF THE AREA WILL TURN SFC FLOW TO A MORE ELY DIRECTION THRU THE NEXT SEVERAL HRS AND ESPEC INTO FRI MRNG. TEMPS WILL DROP BACK DOWN INTO THE MIDDLE 30S FOR MOST AREAS OVERNIGHT AND ROUGHLY THE SAME CONDITIONS FOR FRI AFTN W/ MORE RAIN SHOWERS MOVING IN FROM THE WEST. OUTLOOK... SAT...MVFR-IFR CONDS LKLY AS LOPRES TRACKS OVER TERMINALS. SUN-MON...VFR TUE...MVFR PSBL. && .MARINE... A STRENGTHENING HIGH WELL TO OUR NORTH HAS DROPPED OFF WINDS TO A LIGHT/VRB REGIME THIS AFTN AND WILL SWITCH THEM TO ELY OVERNIGHT INTO FRI. SCA CONDITIONS NOT ANTICIPATED INTO FRI...W/ MORE RAIN ARRIVING BY FRI AFTN/EVE. SLY WINDS SAT AS LOPRES PASSES NEWD JUST W OF WATERS. WNDS WUD BE GRADIENT DRIVEN. ATTM...THAT LOOKS TO BE BELOW SCA THRESHOLDS. HWVR...THE GRADIENT WUD BE INCRSG SAT NGT IN THE WAKE OF THE LOW W/ A BETTER MIXED PROFILE AS WELL. SCA CONDS SEEMS LKLY SAT NGT...CONTG INTO SUN. HV KEPT GRIDS BELOW GLW CRITERIA. GFS SUGGESTING OTRW. WINDS WL BE RELAXING THRU SUN AFTN-EVE AS HIPRES BLDS. && .LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARINE...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...HTS NEAR TERM...GMS SHORT TERM...HTS LONG TERM...CEM AVIATION...GMS/HTS MARINE...GMS/HTS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 309 PM EST THU DEC 4 2014 ANZ530>543-DCZ001-MDZ011-013-014-016>018-508-VAZ052>057-051000- CHESAPEAKE BAY NORTH OF POOLES ISLAND MD- CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM POOLES ISLAND TO SANDY POINT MD- CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM SANDY POINT TO NORTH BEACH MD- CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM NORTH BEACH TO DRUM POINT MD- CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM DRUM POINT MD TO SMITH POINT VA- TIDAL POTOMAC FROM KEY BRIDGE TO INDIAN HEAD MD- TIDAL POTOMAC FROM INDIAN HEAD TO COBB ISLAND MD- TIDAL POTOMAC FROM COBB ISLAND MD TO SMITH POINT VA- PATAPSCO RIVER INCLUDING BALTIMORE HARBOR- CHESTER RIVER TO QUEENSTOWN MD-EASTERN BAY- CHOPTANK RIVER TO CAMBRIDGE MD AND THE LITTLE CHOPTANK RIVER- PATUXENT RIVER TO BROOMES ISLAND MD- TANGIER SOUND AND THE INLAND WATERS SURROUNDING BLOODSWORTH ISLAND-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA-SOUTHERN BALTIMORE-PRINCE GEORGES- ANNE ARUNDEL-CHARLES-ST. MARYS-CALVERT-SOUTHEAST HARFORD- PRINCE WILLIAM/MANASSAS/MANASSAS PARK-FAIRFAX- ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA-STAFFORD-SPOTSYLVANIA- KING GEORGE- 309 PM EST THU DEC 4 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE MARYLAND PORTION OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY...TIDAL POTOMAC RIVER...AND ADJACENT COUNTIES IN CENTRAL MARYLAND AND NORTHERN VIRGINIA AS WELL AS THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE LIKELY ON THE MARYLAND PORTION OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND TIDAL POTOMAC RIVER SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY...AND MAY BE NEEDED THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. MDZ003>006-501>507-VAZ025>031-036>040-050-051-501>508-WVZ050>053- 055-501>506-051000- WASHINGTON-FREDERICK MD-CARROLL-NORTHERN BALTIMORE- EXTREME WESTERN ALLEGANY-CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALLEGANY- NORTHWEST MONTGOMERY-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN MONTGOMERY- NORTHWEST HOWARD-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST HOWARD-NORTHWEST HARFORD- AUGUSTA-ROCKINGHAM-SHENANDOAH-FREDERICK VA-PAGE-WARREN-CLARKE- NELSON-ALBEMARLE-GREENE-MADISON-RAPPAHANNOCK-ORANGE-CULPEPER- NORTHERN FAUQUIER-SOUTHERN FAUQUIER-WESTERN HIGHLAND- EASTERN HIGHLAND-WESTERN LOUDOUN-EASTERN LOUDOUN- NORTHERN VA BLUE RIDGE-CENTRAL VA BLUE RIDGE-HAMPSHIRE-MORGAN- BERKELEY-JEFFERSON-HARDY-WESTERN GRANT-EASTERN GRANT- WESTERN MINERAL-EASTERN MINERAL-WESTERN PENDLETON- EASTERN PENDLETON- 309 PM EST THU DEC 4 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA... NORTHERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA...AND CENTRAL AND WESTERN MARYLAND WITH THE EXCEPTION OF GARRETT COUNTY. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A WINTRY MIX IS ANTICIPATED LATE TONIGHT. A LIGHT ICE ACCUMULATION FROM FREEZING RAIN IS LIKELY ACROSS PORTIONS OF WESTERN MARYLAND... THE ALLEGHENY AND POTOMAC HIGHLANDS OF WEST VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIA... AND THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE THREAT FOR LIGHT FREEZING RAIN CONTINUES FRIDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HTS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Shenandoah National Park reported icing on roads with trace amounts of ice accumulations.
Icing was reported on roadways in surrounding counties with mesonets reporting temperatures at or just below freezing and light rain on going.
Icing was reported on roadways in surrounding counties with mesonets reporting temperatures at or just below freezing and light rain on going.
Icing was reported on roadways in surrounding counties with mesonets reporting temperatures at or just below freezing and light rain on going.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, December 2014
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: 551466, 551467, 551477, 551479.