Snow

The epic storms of the past week have bent but not broken the daily lives of Marylanders. While many are hunkered down at home, others continue to exercise, work and shop in trying conditions. There are cab riders to be ferried, patients to tend to, and miles to log in running regimens. And a team of Baltimore recreation workers is toiling to prevent a costly skating-rink dome from suffering damage. For dedicated runner, 3 miles in snow 'an impulse thing' By Liz F. Kay Delip Rao threw caution to the considerable wind Wednesday afternoon.

It's said that every man wants to be a hero. Jon Snow got his chance last night. With Ygritte, Tormund, Orell and other wildlings, Snow takes on a seemingly impossible feat: Scaling the 700-foot wall that separates the so-called free people from their warmer foes in the south. They're fleeing from The Others (Whitewalkers) and they're likely to  war against the men of the Night's Watch. But first, they've got to get up that huge, icy monstrosity. As expected, this is no easy task.

I suppose that soon enough, our pups right here in Maryland will have a chance to dip their little snouts in a fresh mound of snow. But not yet. Here a little German dog gets a chance though. This pup was playing in the snow the other day in Oberhof, eastern Germany.  

Actress Brittany Snow -- known for her roles in "Pitch Perfect" (2012) and "Hairspray" (2007) -- will speak at 7 p.m. April 23 at Towson University. The event is sold out. Snow will be discussing Love Is Louder, an anti-bullying organization that she co-founded. According to the organization's website, the Baltimore event is part of the Love Is Louder Road Trip . Get more information about the Love Is Louder campaign at loveislouder.com .

Winter storm warnings are in effect in parts of Virginia around Fredericksburg and Charlottesville, but up here in Baltimore, skies are sunny. Snow showers could come later, but don't expect much. The National Weather Service is calling for a 20 percent chance of isolated snow showers in the Baltimore area, but with highs in the lower 40s, accumulation is unlikely. AccuWeather.com meteorologist Henry Margusity is calling it one of the last snow events for the region this season.

The Canadiens were forced to spend an extra night on Long Island because of a storm that dumped more than 2 feet of snow in the area. After a 3-0 victory Saturday night over the Islanders, the team waited an hour on its charter plane before the flight from Farmingdale, N.Y., was postponed until 4 p.m. Sunday. Canadiens spokesman Dominick Saillant said the team arrived in Atlanta early Sunday night for its game Monday night against the Thrashers. •Blues coach Andy Murray's job is safe for the time being, according to team President John Davidson . With the Blues lagging at the bottom of the Western Conference, the question of Murray's job security is in play.

T he balmy strains of Gershwin's "Summertime" went unheard at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. No one got a glimpse of "The Glass Menagerie" at Rep Stage or lived through the trauma of "Two Rooms" at Everyman Theatre. The adventures of the long-nosed hero of "Cyrano" went unlived at Center Stage. It was the snow that ate the arts, along with everything else. "The long and short of it is that it has taken quite a hit on us," says Ian Tresselt, managing director of Everyman, where performances Friday through Sunday had to be canceled because of the weather.

Unofficial totals are in for yesterday's snowfall, and there aren't any for Greater Baltimore. Maryland did see some measurable snow -- weather spotters and media counted an inch in St.  Mary's County and 0.7 inches in Frostburg, according to the National Weather Service. Eheart and Barboursville in rural Virginia, just north of Charlottesville, posted 9 inches and 10 inches, respectively, the storm's highest totals in the area covered by the National Weather Service's Sterling, Va., office.

Spring may have arrived in Maryland, but we might not have seen the last of winter. The weekend's forecasts include a chance of snow, according to National Weather Service forecasts. However, the confidence level for such long-term predictions is kind of low, warn officials at the weather service's Sterling, Va., office. There's a 30 percent chance of rain on Saturday, which changes into a 50 percent rain or snow overnight. The chance of rain or snow decreases back to 30 percent again on Sunday.

The big snow arrived at just the wrong time for the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland - at tournament time. Sunday night, IAAM officials announced changes to the schedules for basketball and swimming. Indoor soccer tournament details will come later. In basketball, the B and C conferences are to play their first-round games Wednesday. The quarterfinals in the A, B and C conferences will go Thursday, with the semifinals Saturday. The title games, originally scheduled for Sunday at Stevenson, will be moved to next Monday at a site yet to be determined.

A recently published study led by U.S. government climate researchers predicts warming global temperatures will mean more moisture in the air, and thus heavier precipitation extremes. The research, reported in the peer-reviewed academic journal Geophysical Research Letters, called the conclusions " the most scientifically sound projection. " "Climate model simulations indicate a substantial future increase in mean and maximum water vapor concentrations," they wrote in the abstract of the study . For the northern hemisphere, that could mean a 20-30 percent increase in a statistic known as "maximum possible precipitation" over the next century under current greenhouse gas emissions growth rates.

Enough snow fell around Harford County during Monday's last gasp of winter storm to force the county to spend more than $100,000 on snow removal efforts. According to figures released by the county Wednesday, 135 personnel worked the storm from approximately 7 a.m. through 7 p.m. Monday. In addition, 60 personnel reported for duty at 4 a.m. Tuesday to begin salting the roads for the morning commute, county government spokesman Bob Thomas wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. Thomas said 130 pieces of equipment were used the duration of the storm coverage and 405 tons of salt were spread over the course of the two days.

Baltimore County officials on Wednesday released the identity of a county worker who died after emergency responders were called to a former county golf course earlier this week, and crash investigators are probing what happened to him as he was plowing snow. Philip Wayne Higgins, 57, of the 4400 block of Declaration Circle in Belcamp, was found Monday, 10 to 20 feet from his county truck at the former Gunpowder Falls Golf Course in Kingsville, police said. He worked for the Property Management Division, which maintains county properties.

Clouds are expected to remain over the Baltimore area Tuesday, with highs in the upper 40s and lows around or below freezing, according to the National Weather Service. There is also a 30 percent chance of rain or snow showers before 8 p.m. with little or no accumulation expected, according to the National Weather Service. Skies are forecast to be mostly cloudy, with breezy winds of 10-20 mph. Low pressure and atmospheric instability are expected to linger. Wednesday more clouds and slightly milder temperatures are expected.

The blanket of as much as 5 inches of wet, slushy snow that fell across the Baltimore area Monday was the heaviest snowfall of an underwhelming season and the latest measurable springtime snow in a decade. The snow caused a few distruptions for morning commuters and minor power outages. It gave a snow day to some schoolchildren eager for sledding and snowball fights after a winter of multiple disappointments. "I've got to do something, or I'll have a mutiny," said Clark Lare, chuckling, as he bought bacon and eggs to feed his son, Jack, and daughter, Sasha, at Whole Foods in Mount Washington.

This morning, Baltimore young'uns with their eyes all aglow are hoping for a snow day. Republican Senator Rand Paul, meanwhile is charitably hoping that if the glow happens to come from the burning of an illicit substance, the kids' lives won't be ruined forever. Welcome to your post-weekend trends report for Monday, March 25, 2013. Paul is teaming up with Democrat Patrick Leahy to push for relaxation of mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana offenders, saying Sunday that either of the last two presidents could have had vastly different lives had they not been lucky with their own drug experiences.

In a February 7 article ("A likely record, but experts will get back to us") Frank Roylance wrote: "The contractor paid to make snow measurements at BWI for the weather service (the NWS has none of its own personnel there) evidently failed to follow NWS protocols in measuring the snow. Those rules say the observer must allow snow to fall on an official 'snow board' for six hours, then wipe it clear and repeat the procedure every six hours until the snow ends." This statement is inaccurate and misleading in that it gives the impression that the weather observers (contractors)

I was surprised to read that limited National Guard resources were used to drive "at least one" Baltimore City prosecutor into work during the blizzard to make bail recommendations for recently incarcerated individuals ("Snow also causing delays in criminal justice system," Feb. 9). Would defense lawyers for the poor be given the same consideration? Even when the blizzard is over and courts resume, people accused of a crime will still be denied an attorney at the initial appearance before a district court commissioner and will be left to fend for themselves.

The early spring snow falling on Carroll County overnight from Sunday into Monday has brought with it an extra vacation day for many local students. Carroll County Public Schools has announced that all public schools in the county are closed Monday due to the inclement weather. CCPS on Monday afternoon announced that a basketball game with the Harlem Wizards, originally scheduled for tonight at Manchester Valley High School, has been postponed until Saturday, April 13, at 7 p.m.  In addition, McDaniel College in Westminster has also closed for the day. The National Weather Service has a winter weather advisory issued for Carroll County through 6 p.m., and is forecasting that parts of the county could receive 3 to 5 inches of snow before the precipitation turns to rain this evening.

Here's a question for a snowy day in spring: Will Marylanders, and Baltimoreans in particular, ever grow so accustomed to snow that they stop worrying so much about it? Could climate change do enough crazy things to the atmosphere to bring us more snow on a regular basis - and even in late March or April - therefore making Marylanders less snowanoid? Will we soon see the day when kids and their parents trudge on to school and work when just 2 or 3 inches of snow fall on the area?