A protracted winter storm with a one-two punch affected the Eastern Shore from the early morning of the 26th into the early morning of the 27th.  The first phase of the storm affected Cecil County the most, while the second phase of the storm affected all of the Eastern Shore. Snow and sleet accumulations ranged from 1 to 4 inches in Caroline and Talbot Counties to 4 to 10 inches in Cecil, Kent and Queen Anne's Counties.
Precipitation began as rain across the southern Eastern Shore and snow across the northern Eastern Shore shortly after midnight EST on the 26th. Precipitation across the northern Eastern Shore slowly changed to sleet and then rain during the morning of the 26th. Precipitation became spottier and lighter during the mid day and early afternoon on the 26th. Precipitation in the form of rain increased in intensity across the Eastern Shore during the second half of the afternoon as thunderstorms formed. Precipitation then mixed with or changed back to sleet across the northern Eastern Shore toward evening and the southern Eastern Shore during the early evening. The precipitation then changed to snow during the evening and fell heavy at times during the mid and late evening. The snow ended shortly after midnight EST on the 27th.
The heavy snow clung to trees and caused weaker limbs and trees to come down mainly in Cecil County where 21,000 Delmarva Power customers lost power. Minor accidents were reported across the Eastern Shore. The snow caused school districts on the 27th to either close (e.g. Kent County) or have two hour delayed openings (e.g. Caroline County).
Representative snowfall included 10.0 inches in Conowingo (Cecil County), 8.5 inches in Elkton (Cecil County), 8.0 inches in Galena (Kent County), 5.6 inches in Millington (Kent County), 5.3 inches in Stevensville (Queen Anne's County), 3.5 inches in Denton (Caroline County), 3.4 inches in Greensboro (Caroline County) 1.9 inches in Easton (Talbot County) and 1.5 inches in Trappe (Caroline County).
The latest winter storm was caused by a low pressure system that emerged from the western Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and moved northeast to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina at 7 a.m. EST on the 26th. From there it turned slightly more to the northnortheast and passed through the Delmarva coastal waters during the afternoon and early evening on the 26th and then continued northeast and passed just south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts early on the 27th. The turn more toward the coast permitted some warmer air to reach into the Eastern Shore during the day on the 26th. The heavy snow burst was triggered by the surface low's upper air support that passed through the Eastern Shore on the evening of the 26th.

Winter Weather in CAROLINE, MARYLAND
From 26-JAN-11 19:00:00 to 27-JAN-11 02:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Winter Weather in TALBOT, MARYLAND
From 26-JAN-11 19:00:00 to 27-JAN-11 02:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Winter Storm in QUEEN ANNES, MARYLAND
From 26-JAN-11 17:00:00 to 27-JAN-11 02:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Winter Storm in KENT, MARYLAND
From 26-JAN-11 03:00:00 to 27-JAN-11 02:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Winter Storm in CECIL, MARYLAND
From 26-JAN-11 03:00:00 to 27-JAN-11 02:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS