The combination of a high pressure system over nearby Canada and a pair of low pressure systems - one that moved into the Great Lakes before dissipating and another that formed over the Virginia coastal waters gave the Maryland Eastern Shore a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow. Light freezing drizzle fell throughout most of the day on the 27th. Late in the afternoon as the low pressure system was forming over the Virginia coastal waters, precipitation intensity increased and freezing rain began falling across most of the Eastern Shore. As colder air moved in from the north and precipitation intensity increased, the freezing rain changed to sleet and then snow from north to south before it ended before midnight EST. Accumulations ranged from a trace in Caroline and Talbot Counties where precipitation changed to snow just as it was ending to up to 4 inches in parts of Cecil and Kent Counties. Untreated roads were slippery. Specific accumulations included 4.0 inches in Port Deposit (Cecil County) and Rock Hall (Kent County), 3.5 inches in Elkton (Cecil County), 3.0 inches in Conowingo (Cecil County), 1.5 inches in Chestertown (Kent County), 1.0 inch in Stevensville (Queen Anne's County) and traces in both Cordova (Talbot County) and Greensboro (Caroline County). While the first low pressure system was heading off the North Carolina coast around sunrise on the 26th, another low pressure system was already in Arkansas. This low pressure system moved northeast into the lower Ohio Valley during the afternoon of the 26th and reached Ohio around sunrise on the 27th. The low moved north into Michigan during the afternoon of the 27th and remained nearly stationary as it slowly weakened during the evening and overnight. This low pressure system brought a wedge of warmer air aloft across the region. What made precipitation fall as either freezing rain or sleet was a large high pressure system over nearby Canada that fed cold air south near the surface. During the late afternoon of the 27th, a second low pressure system formed over the Virginia coastal waters. By 7 p.m. EST when it was located near the Virginia Capes, its central pressure was already as strong as the Michigan low pressure system. The Virginia low pressure system moved northeast and intensified and by 1 a.m. EST on the 28th, was located about 120 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey and by 7 a.m. EST it was about 240 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey. As this second low pressure system intensified and its upper air support moved across the Middle Atlantic States, precipitation intensity increased and the precipitation changed to snow.

Winter Weather in CAROLINE, MARYLAND
From 27-JAN-04 17:00:00 to 27-JAN-04 22:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in CECIL, MARYLAND
From 27-JAN-04 17:00:00 to 27-JAN-04 22:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in KENT, MARYLAND
From 27-JAN-04 17:00:00 to 27-JAN-04 22:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in QUEEN ANNES, MARYLAND
From 27-JAN-04 17:00:00 to 27-JAN-04 22:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in TALBOT, MARYLAND
From 27-JAN-04 17:00:00 to 27-JAN-04 22:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER