LOCAL WEATHER

Lake and Air Temperature at Deep Creek Lake, MD

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Weather in Garrett County, MD 21550

Garrett County has weather unlike anywhere else in Maryland. The county sits on the Allegheny Plateau, and Backbone Mountain — 3,360 feet, the highest point in the state — is here. That elevation shows up in the numbers: the plateau typically runs 10 to 15 degrees colder than eastern Maryland, and the freeze-free season lasts fewer than 130 days, against more than 230 days in the southern part of the state.

Snow is the clearest difference of all. Average annual snowfall in Garrett County runs well past 80 inches, compared with 8 to 10 inches along the lower Eastern Shore, and a big winter goes much further — Oakland recorded 155.5 inches of snow between July 2002 and June 2003. Summers stay mild by comparison, which is a good part of why the lake fills up between Memorial Day and Labor Day. (Figures from the Maryland State Climatologist.)

Much of the county, Oakland included, falls under ZIP code 21550 — that’s the code to use for local forecast lookups.