High Winds

Two aeronautical engineers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel say they've found a way to build better missiles, save taxpayer dollars and bring new business to the lab in one simple idea: use plastic. As part of an independent research project, Richard R. Heisler and Clifford L. Ratliff designed a way to make plastic models for use in wind tunnel tests that keep their integrity, provide quality data during the tests and shave tens of thousands of dollars off the cost of a typical wind tunnel experiment, as well as months of time.

HAGERSTOWN -- High winds and torrential downpours forced the postponement of last night's scheduled Class 2A state boys soccer semifinal between Patapsco and Bethesda-Chevy Chase at South Hagerstown High School.Officials said the game will be made up tomorrow at a site and time to be determined.The Patriots are in the semifinals for the first time since 1984 and last won a state title in 1977.* Bad weather also forced the postponement of two other state soccer semifinals.In boys Class 3A, the Bel Air vs. Churchill game will be played tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Catonsville Community College.

The National Weather Service is calling for Friday to be mostly cloudy in the Baltimore area, with a high near 80 and west winds 5 to 9 miles per hour in the morning. There is a 30 percent chance of showers before 11 a.m. Forecasters warn that isolated thunderstorms late Friday afternoon and evening could produce high winds. Friday night is expected to be mostly cloudy, with a low around 62 and west winds 6 to 8 miles per hour becoming northerly after midnight. There is a 30 percent chance of precipitation.

High winds have prevented Bay Bridge authorities from opening up an additional travel lane to eastbound traffic. Typically, during the evening rush hour one lane of the westbound span is dedicated to eastbound traffic unless winds make it unsafe for opposing traffic to travel in the same span. The two-way operations were ended shortly after 4 p.m. The Maryland Transportation Authority will continue to monitor winds speeds and open an additional eastbound lane if possible Wednesday evening.

High winds caused thousands of homes and businesses in Central Maryland to lose power during the holiday's prime time for cooking, weather and utility officials said yesterday evening. Some 20,000 customers in the region - comprising Baltimore City and eight nearby counties - were without electricity at the height of the power outages in the middle of yesterday afternoon, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. reported on its Web site. By 7 p.m. the number had fallen to about 3,500 customers, most of them in the city.

Much of the predicted snowstorm that closed local schools and put highway crews on the alert Wednesday failed to materialize in Harford County. Predictions for snow accumulations fluctuated as the late-winter storm system, known as Winter Storm Saturn, approached the Mid-Atlantic region. The storm left much of the Eastern Seaboard with wet and heavy snow, power outages, flooding and major traffic accidents, although Maryland and the Washington, D.C., region escaped with mostly mixed rain and snow, and high winds, according to Weather.com.

A friend was lamenting recently, "You know what I really miss when going hunting these days? Hunting camps. I remember when everyone wanted to belong to a deer-hunting camp or waterfowling camp. I'll bet there aren't a dozen left in the state."It would be tough to nail down reliable figure on remaining hunting camps not only in Maryland, but also throughout the mid-Atlantic area. I think, though, that the figure is undoubtedly tiny compared with 30 or 40 years ago.The culprit of the clubs' demise is modern transportation and, in the instance of deer, that species spread throughout the country into areas that are often as accessible as the wood lot behind your home.

Strong rain followed by wind gusts of up to 56 mph created havoc for Baltimore-area residents yesterday, knocking out power to tens of thousands, halting Inner Harbor water taxi service, causing thousands of children to leave school early and forcing librarians in Hereford to check books out the old-fashioned way. The blustery weather, which meteorologists say is a sure sign of winter's arrival, left about 119,000 customers in the region without power...

High winds across the Baltimore metropolitan region yesterday canceled New Year's Eve fireworks, caused power outages in thousands of homes, flipped a tractor-trailer on a major bridge and toppled branches that hindered the movement of the light rail. The National Weather Service issued a high-wind warning yesterday morning until 10 o'clock last night, cautioning that winds would top 40 mph, with gusts as high as 60 mph. At midnight, instead of fireworks, several confetti guns were fired at the Inner Harbor as Mayor Sheila Dixon and the crowd, bundled up against the cold, counted down to the new year.

Somewhere in the frozen Alaskan darkness yesterday, Baltimore musher Dan Dent and his 15 huskies slipped past four more competitors and pulled into the Bering Sea town of Unalakleet in 61st place. Dent still has 269 miles to go before he reaches the finish line in Nome. And 29 teams had already finished the 2000 Iditarod Trail race by the time Dent reached the seacoast a couple of hours after sunrise. But at least he'd put a few more mushers between himself and last place. There were eight in all trailing him early yesterday.