Storm causes minor accidents west I-68 blocked

Sleet and freezing rain slowed traffic and caused minor accidents north and west of Baltimore last night, but the storm brought snow to far Western Maryland where as many 100 tractor trailers jackknifed on Interstate 68, blocking its westbound lanes, state police said.

Six counties -- Howard, Carroll, Frederick, Washington, Allegany and Garrett -- had emergency snow removal plans in effect between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. None of the many road mishaps reported in the western counties was serious, police said.

About a dozen minor accidents blamed on slick roads were reported in Baltimore County.

As of midnight, no fatal accident had been reported anywhere in Maryland by state police.

In Allegany County, westbound Interstate 68 was closed for about two hours as police and road crews cleared numerous tractor-trailer trucks that jackknifed and blocked the highway. Four inches of snow fell intermittently between periods of freezing rain, state police said.

"It's been terrible all night, the whole county's been snowed in. We've got backups and accidents on roads all over," said state police Cpl. Lynn Knotts of the Cumberland barracks.

No accidents were reported in Howard County, where the emergency plan was put into effect as a precautionary measure because of sleet, state police in Waterloo said. Highway officials salted county roads.

In Carroll County, less traveled roads were covered with light snow. No more than six minor accidents were reported there, police said.