Ice Storm

Oysterback, Maryland. -- When winter came, it had teeth. For a week, the wind came in from the northeast just as sharp and cold as a Republican's heart. Ice storm after ice storm downed power lines and cut off the phones, coating the world with a thin, frigid beauty, slicing the village of Oysterback off from the outside world.At night, in the cold black stillness, the crack of trees breaking beneath the weight of the ice sounded like rifle shots in the darkness. The boats were cradled up in the ice at the harbor; little traffic moved on the slick roads.

To: Mother Nature From: The Sun staff Re: Today's forecastA winter storm watch for Western Maryland. Snow possible in Carroll and Frederick counties. Sleet mixed with rain in the metro area, just in time for morning rush hour. Talk about deja vu all over again.Yes, we know that's a baseball cliche. That's all we have left after this winter. We surrender; we raise a white flag to the white stuff. All our rhetorical weapons are exhausted against your ceaseless barrage. (Have we used "barrage" to describe the weather yet?

EASTON -- Foresters estimate that up to 40 percent of the trees in a band extending from Southern Maryland across the mid-Eastern Shore incurred "severe damage" during a rare, extended ice storm earlier this month."

As another winter storm began moving across Maryland, state and school officials worried yesterday about a critical shortage of salt for highways and another day without classes for students.The storm could be the worst this winter, with forecasts of up to half a foot of snow and ice for today's 11th anniversary of the 22.8-inch Blizzard of '83.Light snow and sleet spread across metropolitan Baltimore between 9:30 and 11 o'clock last night, with the storm arriving before many had chipped away the remains of this year's fifth ice storm.

Today's forecast -- cloudy skies punctuated by sparse sunshine and a high of 28 degrees -- may not seem like much of a break, but that is about all the metropolitan area gets before another winter onslaught tonight and tomorrow.The National Weather Service is calling for snow, sleet and freezing rain beginning tonight and extending through most of tomorrow.An overnight low of 22 degrees will only reinforce already frozen surfaces.In addition, today's sunshine isn't expected to have much effect on the already ice-locked streets that have witnessed uncounted injuries from falls as people, in many cases, crawl along icy pavements and lawns just to get into their homes after experiencing white-knuckle commuting in miserable driving conditions.

The already weather-weary Baltimore area got more bad news today as the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for tonight and tomorrow.Forecasters predicted light snow later today with the snow increasing after midnight, possibly mixing with sleet by morning.For tomorrow, the outlook is for freezing rain mixed with sleet and snow with highs near 30.Low temperatures tonight in the 20s will reinforce already frozen surfaces.Today's respite -- cloudy skies punctuated by sparse sunshine and a high of 28 degrees -- likely seemed all too brief for Baltimoreans who have battled storm after storm this winter and put up with hazardous driving -- and walking -- conditions.

Marylanders took another beating from the weather yesterday as a continuing ice storm disrupted travel, knocked out electrical power and forced school systems to shut down again.Across the state, hundreds of accidents kept the police and towing companies on the move as public works crews on overtime duty plowed, salted and sanded major routes."An ice storm is worse than a snowstorm," said Westminster's city streets superintendent, Donald A. Gross. "You've got to keep fighting it all the time.

Ice accumulating on the overhead power lines knocked out the Central Light Rail Line yesterday.It was the first time freezing rain has forced the closing of the entire 22.5-mile-long system for a full day, and the third time bad weather has disrupted service in less than a month.Service is unlikely to be restored until temperatures rise above the freezing mark, Mass Transit Administration officials said last night.Passengers have not been stranded by the shutdown, but they have been delayed.

Is this the worst winter ever?"It's the worst I've seen here in 25 years," said Ken Shaver, a veteran forecaster at the National Weather Service's regional office at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.Fred Davis, the office's chief meteorologist, said that he is afraid to mention his job when he hears people talking about their weather woes in the supermarket checkout lines.But Mr. Davis was not ready to say "worst ever.""Winter's not over," he said. "We can't compare half a winter to whole winters we've had before."

Whoever first said "better late than never" clearly was not talking about ice storms.The freezing rain, sleet and snow that had been expected to wreak havoc during yesterday's morning rush hour came in the evening instead. The result was traffic gridlock.A mistlike freezing drizzle fell for much of the day across Maryland, but a predicted rise in temperatures that had been expected to bring a change to rain was stalled to the south.The sleet and freezing rain intensified by midafternoon, and so did the problems -- including a fatal traffic accident on the Eastern Shore.