The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at Maryland reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
BaltimoreBaltimore Washington International Airport, USW00093721
Jan 21 to 27
25°F
1°FJan 7, 2018
Nov 3
−7°F3 times, last on Jan 22, 1984records since 1939
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Baltimore against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 4 Maryland reference stations.
At Baltimore it is usually Jan 21 to 27, with a normal low of 25°F. At the other reference stations: Salisbury Jan 20 to 26 (28°F), Hagerstown Jan 17 to 23 (22°F) and Oakland Jan 22 to 28 (17°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Baltimore reaches 32°F around Dec 5. The first actual freeze came around Nov 3 in the median of the last 10 winters, weeks ahead of the normal, because one clear calm night can run far below the average.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Baltimore was 1°F on Jan 7, 2018, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 9°F. Elsewhere: Salisbury 0°F on Jan 9, 2017, Hagerstown −3°F on Jan 31, 2026 and Oakland −23°F on Feb 1, 2026. The record at the Baltimore station is −7°F, most recently on Jan 22, 1984, in daily records since 1939.
At Baltimore a typical recent winter brings 84 nights at 32°F or colder and 15 at 20°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Baltimore Washington International Airport (USW00093721), Salisbury Wicomico Regional Airport (USW00093720), Hagerstown 1 E (USC00181790) and Oakland 1 SE (USC00186620). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
