Carroll County Public Schools to close one-hour early today
Carroll County Public Schools announced at 10:20 this morning that it will close Carroll County schools one-hour early today. All afternoon and evening activities are canceled and there will be no afternoon Pre-K because of expected inclement weather later this afternoon in the Carroll County area.
Various weather reports indicate that the Carroll County area could possibly see an accumulation of three to five inches beginning jst around the time folks will start heading home from work.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a “Winter Weather Advisory” for the Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Baltimore County area. According to the NWS, “Low pressure off the Carolina coast will strengthen and quickly move northward up the Eastern Seaboard. The wintry mix of precipitation associated with this storm will continue to progress northward along the East Coast…”
According to weatherbug.com, later this evening two major storm systems will combine “to form a classic coastal storm” along the east coast. “An area of low pressure, the same one responsible for heavy snow and freezing rain across the Southeast, has pushed off the Georgia coast, and is starting to march northeastward toward the North Carolina Outer Banks. Meanwhile, a second area of low pressure is chugging eastward through the Ohio Valley, bringing along another plume of snow from the Mid-Mississippi Valley to the Midwest.”
Frank Roylance, who writes about “
Maryland Weather” in the Baltimore Sun notes, “NWS forecasters expect temperatures to hold in the lower 30s, so the event is likely to remain all-snow….
“Central and Southern Maryland should expect 3 to 5 inches of snow tonight, with the heaviest amounts close to the Chesapeake Bay, falling off to the west and south.”
Emergencyemail.org reports that a winter storm watch now in effect from Tuesday afternoon through late Tuesday night with the potential for five or more inches of snow.
The snow is predicted to develop during the late afternoon or early evening on Tuesday and continue through Tuesday night with temperatures in the lower 30s and dip to the 20s Tuesday night and northwest winds five to 10 mph increasing to 10 to 15 mph later in the evening.
A winter storm watch, according to emergencyemail.com, means “there is a potential for significant snow accumulations that may impact travel.”
The weather predictions of snow in the Carroll County area come on the heels of last Saturday morning’s light dusting of snow that triggered the snow emergency plan for the Carroll County area for several hours in the morning, but for the most part, only amounted to being a nuisance.
According to a Westminster street department employee, the road crews for Westminster city reported for work around 4 a.m. and easily got the light dusting under control.
At approximately 9 o’clock Saturday morning, the main roads at the intersection of Liberty and Main Street at the railroad tracks made for a picturesque winter-in-Westminster scene, but otherwise, the streets were in good shape for driving.
(Photo by Kevin Dayhoff January 8, 2011.)
