Storm

The following is the Friends of Harford testimony before the Harford County Council in support of Bill 13-12. levying a storm water remediation fee. A copy was provided for publication. Friends of Harford supports the purpose and philosophy behind Bill 13-12 "Storm water Remediation Fee" because past storm water management practices have proven inadequate to protect our properties, our streams, the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay. Just as these past inadequacies accumulated over time, so too will correcting them take time -- and money.

Forecasters are cautiously keeping an eye on the potential for snow Sunday night into Monday. National Weather Service officials call it a "tricky forecast" in their forecast discussion : "MID-ATLANTIC LOOKS TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRANSFER OF DOMINANCE FROM ONE LOW TO ANOTHER. THIS COMBINED WITH MARGINAL TEMPERATURES MAKES FOR A TRICKY FORECAST. " Baltimore area forecaster Eric the Red said he is treading carefully in speaking about the potential for snow. He says there's a large room for potential storm busters that could affect the "coastal jump" hitting the mid-Atlantic.

Edmondson guard Darius Walker learned from something that happened earlier this season, and that lesson helped the Red Storm win its first state title Saturday night. Walker snaked through traffic and made a driving left-handed bank shot as time expired to give No. 5 Edmondson a 56-54 victory over Wicomico in the Class 2A state title game at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center, the school's first championship in basketball. Fresh in Walker's mind was his choice at the end of regulation in the Baltimore City title game against No. 1 Dunbar last month.

If you first don't succeed, try again. And then, if needed, try yet again. The Edmondson boys basketball had the final possession at the end of regulation and again in the first overtime with the score tied against Oakdale, from Frederick County, but the No. 5 Red Storm was unable to convert the needed points that would send it to the Class 2A state title game. In the same spot in the second overtime, Edmondson senior guard Darius Walker changed the plan. Once again appearing to hold the ball for the final shot, Walker attacked the basket earlier than expected, hitting a running layup with 31 seconds left to give the Red Storm a two-point lead.

When he's not on the basketball court, Edmondson senior guard Darius Walker is more laid back than loud. But there was one exception recently when he simply couldn't help himself. It came last Thursday at Randallstown, when he helped lead the No. 5 Red Storm past the host Rams, 73-63, to capture the Class 2A North regional championship. After falling in the regional title game in the past four years, the Red Storm had just advanced to the state semifinals at Comcast Center and it was something to yell about.

Despite getting a negligible amount of snow from last week's predicted "big one," Harford County's Highways Division still racked up $109,000 in salt, overtime and other storm-related costs, mostly from work done along the county's northern tier. The Wednesday, March 6, snow event, "the big one that didn't happen," in the words of county spokesman Bob Thomas, cost the county $109,668 for DPW highways personnel to treat the roads and plow snow, mostly in the Norrisville area. According to Thomas, 159 personnel worked the event, with most reporting to work at 3:30 a.m. on March 6 and being released at 5 that afternoon.

Unlike Wednesday's snowstorm that failed to materialize amid forecasters' dire predictions, the Blizzard of '93 roared into Maryland the weekend of March 13-14 with a wallop, dumping a foot of snow on Baltimore while raking the state with almost hurricane-like winds before racing northward into New England. The cyclonic storm was born over the Gulf of Mexico on March 12, and at its maximum, it extended from Canada to Central America. It bore down on Cuba, where it killed 10, and then turned its ferocity on the East Coast.

March snowfall is not uncommon in the Baltimore area, with 2 inches on average during the month. But some storms have dumped much more than that -- though it is typically wet snow that disappears quickly. March storms in 1942, 1892, 1962 and 1993 rank among the 20 heaviest snowfalls on record for Baltimore, according to National Weather Service data. An 8-inch snow fell in mid-March 1858, the heaviest of that winter season. But it was described as "light. " "In a very short time, the streets were in fine condition for sleighing, and the jingle of the bells was heard in every direction," according to Sun archives.

It was supposed to be both winter's last blast and Baltimore's first significant snowfall in two years, but stubbornly warm air took the "snow" out of Wednesday's snow day for many Marylanders. While weather forecasts had the region preparing for the worst - as much as a foot of heavy snow causing potentially hundreds of thousands of power outages - what it got was little more than a nasty day of slushy rain, though several inches of snow stuck north and west of the city. Yet heavy winds toppled a tractor-trailer on the Bay Bridge, shutting the span down in both directions for about four hours.