With a snowstorm targeting Maryland, BWI's largest airline canceled most of its evening flights, BGE reported a sharp increase in power outages and Gov. Martin O'Malley urged motorists to stay off the roads unless it is absolutely necessary to travel.
"It's going to be very treacherous out there tonight," O'Malley said at a late afternoon media briefing at the State Highway Administration's operations center in Hanover.
Visibility on roadways south of Baltimore was poor as the wind picked up and snowflakes swirled. Portions of major highways such as I-83 and the Baltimore Beltway were closed or effectively so as traffic was at a standstill. Police tape and flares block the entrances to northbound I-83 at Fallsway and Charles Street near Penn Station. In a tweet, Baltimore City Police said the highway was closed from President Street to the Baltimore County line.
A dispatcher with Baltimore County said that at about 9:30 p.m., they were faced with more than 150 calls for service, many of them people stuck inside their cars, but no reports of plows disabled in traffic. He said the congestion was county-wide, but that traffic was especially heavy around 695 outer loop, near Liberty Road. As of 9:30 p.m., he said no series injuries were reported.
A state police dispatcher said that Interstate 695 was not closed, but that tow trucks are having trouble removing disabled, abandoned vehicles. She said salt trucks then can't get through the "bumper to bumper" traffic on the beltway in Baltimore County. Many people have abandoned their disabled vehicles, she said.
Mall owner General Growth Properties announced that as of 7 p.m., its six shopping centers in the region were closed, including the Mall in Columbia, Towson Town Center and Harborplace & The Gallery.
BGE spokesman Rob Gould said the utility has seen a spike in the number of power outages. "We've climbed perhaps 10,000 in the past 15 minutes," he said at 7:30 p.m. Baltimore City has the most customers affected, but there are problems throughout the region.
The storm that began with an unexpected and troublesome couple of inches before this morning's rush hour was expected to leave another 6 to 10 inches behind before it ends overnight. The heaviest snow should fall between 4 p.m. and midnight, said Nikole Listemaa, a senior forecaster in the National Weather Service's Sterling, Va., office.
Meteorologists expanded Winter Storm Warnings to include all of Maryland from Garrett County to the Upper Eastern Shore, and as far south as Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties. The accumulation predictions bounced around from early warnings of 5-10 inches that dropped as low as 3 inches then returned to the higher 6-10 inches around 7 p.m.
Marylanders may hear claps of thunder this evening as the snow resumes, temperatures drop and accumulation rates climb to several inches an hour.
O'Malley said the snow is expected to fall fast and to be very heavy, raising the prospect of downed power lines.
The governor said road authorities had not been able to pre-treat the roads because of the heavy rain that preceded the snow. "This is a serious traffic hazard and challenge," he said.
O'Malley said no decision had yet been made about whether state workers will be required to report to work Thursday; that will be decided early in the morning.
The briefing took place in the same room where the governor met with reporters almost a year ago, when the state was hit by two snowstorms of historic proportions within a week of each other.
O'Malley said state officials were using some of the lessons learned last February, when traffic was brought to a standstill on Interstate 95 after a tractor-trailer jack-knifed along the highway in Howard County. He said the highway administration has pre-positioned heavy tow trucks along that stretch of I-95, as well as along the Baltimore and Capital beltways and in the Frederick area, to respond to such an event.
O'Malley said he had no concerns that Marylanders would become complacent about this storm after several near-misses earlier this winter.
"I think people in our area kind of watch for snow like hawks," he said. "People are going to take this seriously."
At the same briefing state highway administrator Neil J. Pedersen issued a plea to drivers: "Never, ever try to pass a snow plow." He urged drivers to keep their distance, warning that interfering with the plows is dangerous to their operators as well as motorists.
Pedersen said the SHA has 1,600 workers and 1,400 pieces of equipment of the highways to spread salt and clear the snow. "We will be working the snow as hard as we can," he said.
Motorists trying to get home sat in cars — some for hours — as heavy snow fell Wednesday evening.
Pikesville resident Michael Schwartzberg was driving home from his office in Towson and had not arrived more than two and a half hours into his commute.
