The final hours of 2025 will be dry, cold and breezy in Baltimore and across much of Maryland. 2026 will begin a few early-morning snow squalls followed by another arctic blast of cold weather.

Cold and quiet finish to 2025 in Baltimore

After powerful winds over the past few days, we’ll get a nice break from the disruptive wind gusts to finish out 2025. Wednesday will be blustery & cold across the state with winds gusting 20 mph to 25 mph. High temperatures will top out in the upper 30s, but factoring in the breeze, it will feel that temperatures stay in the 20s.

New Year’s Eve evening weather looks good. Temperatures by mid- to late evening will be in the lower 30s, but with a west to southwest wind at 10 mph to 20 mph, wind chills will stay consistent in the middle 20s. Weather conditions will be dry at midnight, so road conditions will stay dry for traveling.

Snow showers, bitter cold New Year’s Day across Maryland

A powerful cold front will cross Maryland early Thursday, bringing another batch of arctic cold and scattered flurries, snow showers, and snow squalls.

Thursday’s temperatures will peak early in the day, in the lower to middle 30s, before the arctic cold front crosses the area between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. As the cold front crosses the area, scattered snow showers and snow squalls will be possible in Central and Eastern Maryland. While they won’t last long, they will have the capability of delivering a dusting to coating of fresh snow in spots.

After the snow showers exit and the cold front passes, skies will partially clear and the winds will ramp up. Expect wind gusts of 25 mph to 35 mph with temperatures staying around 30 degrees. Wind chills will actually drop over the course of the day from the upper 20s early in the day to the lower 20s by afternoon.

Winds will gradually relax Thursday night, which means a very cold night. Expect lows in the teens and lower 20s.

Meanwhile in Western Maryland, specifically Garrett County, a winter storm warning is in effect from 4 p.m. Wednesday through 10 a.m. Thursday, with 4 to 8 inches of snow and wind gusts to 50 mph are likely. Wind chills will plummet to as low as -10 degrees. Extremely dangerous travel is likely, so please avoid traveling to this part of Maryland until conditions improve later Thursday.

Cold, quiet weather for the first weekend of 2026

Seasonably cold weather will continue Friday through the weekend. We’ll see a mixture of clouds and sunshine during this stretch. The good news is that the area won’t be affected by major storms if you or friends and family need to travel.

Expect highs in the upper 30s each day with overnight temperatures in the 20s. Winds will be relatively light over the weekend, so wind chills won’t be an issue.

WJZ is a media partner of The Baltimore Banner. See the original report.