CUMBERLAND — The snow emergency plan for Allegany County was put into effect at 8 a.m. Wednesday by the Maryland State Police Cumberland barrack and the Maryland State Highway Administration.
Garrett County was also placed under a snow emergency plan at 8:15 a.m.
Central and eastern Allegany County as well as Grant and Mineral counties in West Virginia were placed under a winter storm warning that was into effect until early this morning. Additionally, high winds, some gusts in excess of 50 mph, are forecasted for Maryland today, according to SHA.
The warning was for a mix of snow, freezing rain and sleet. Snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches was expected before turning into freezing rain and back to snow as the storm pulled out Wednesday evening, according to Tim Thomas, a local observer for the National Weather Service, which put Frostburg’s snow total at 9 inches.
The National Weather Service switched the storm status between an advisory, a watch and a warning, said Thomas.
“This is a very complex system and it’s difficult to predict. There are a lot of things happening in a lot of different places,” said Thomas.
Ice accumulations of a tenth of an inch to 1 inch were expected Wednesday, according to Thomas.
“The freezing rain could cause problems with driving,” said Thomas, who added that such conditions caused the roads to be slick on Wednesday morning.
The system, which came out of the Tennessee Valley, dumped about several inches of snow on Western Maryland on Wednesday morning, according to Thomas.
The snow that blanketed the area on Monday was brought on by a separate system.
On Monday, the New Creek Volunteer Fire Department responded to four back-to-back vehicle accidents due to the inclement weather, according to Fire Chief Dustin Amtower. Nobody was injured in the accidents and no accidents were reported as of Wednesday morning.
On Wednesday, SHA crews worked to respond to the wintry mix that occurred across central and Western Maryland.
“SHA crews have been out since prior to this morning’s rush hour and are responding accordingly based on conditions,” said SHA Administrator Melinda Peters in a Wednesday news release. “We ask motorists to keep their speeds down as lighter traffic can also result in increased travel speeds. Conditions can change rapidly within just a few miles and we ask motorists to exercise extreme caution.”
SHA encourages motorists to move disabled vehicles from the travel lane onto the shoulder and reminds motorist to have always have an emergency survival kit on hand. SHA also reminds motorists to never pass a snowplow or snowplow train.
In Cumberland, the inclement weather led to the closing of some downtown businesses and the Allegany County Department of Tourism. Allegany County Public School offices closed early.
The government offices in Hampshire County, W.Va., were closed as well because of the weather.
Garrett County government offices closed at 3 p.m., according to County Administrator Monty Pagenhardt.
For the latest road conditions, visit www.roads.maryland.gov and click on the CHART icon.
At 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the First Energy Storm Center reported 717 homes without power in Preston County, W.Va. The only Maryland outages were in Washington County, with 97 at 2 p.m.
First Energy, citing the potential for damaging ice in the higher elevations of West Virginia, called in extra line crews and has contracted with private crews for deployment if needed.
Customers without power should call 888-544-4877 or click the Report Outage link on www.firstenergycorp.com via a mobile device.
Potomac Edison updates will be provided via Twitter @PotomacEdison.
A dispatcher at the Allegany County 911 center said at mid-afternoon that fender-bender accidents were numerous once the snow started and were taking place throughout the county.
Contact Elaine Blaisdell at eblaisdell@times-news.com. Staff Writer Michael A. Sawyers also contributed to this story.
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The Taylor family, from left, Rebekah, Jack, 4, Justin and Scharlotte, 7, work to shovel the sidewalk in front of their home on U.S. Route 40 on Wednesday afternoon with their dog Wesley as snow continues to fall. For the complete AccuWeather forecast. Ken Nolan/Times-News
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