As the Baltimore area awaited snowfall, estimated to arrive around midnight, cloudy skies covered the city with temperatures hovering in the mid-teens at 10:30 p.m.
The region is expected to accumulate 3 to 5 inches of snow Saturday night, with an additional 5 to 8 inches on Sunday when it was expected to be a mix of very cold temperatures with snow and possibly sleet, making traveling difficult and dangerous.
In anticipation of the storm, the Maryland Department of Emergency Management has raised its State Activation Level to “Full,” and staffed the State Emergency Operations Center through the weekend to respond to the inclement weather.
As for the latest precipitation onset times for Saturday night, officials encouraged planning your travel accordingly.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott issued an emergency declaration Saturday evening prior to the snowfall. He said that city agencies are “fully activated and prepared to respond” to the storm.
The Baltimore City Health Department issued a Code Blue Extreme Cold Alert that will last through Tuesday. Residents are encouraged to stay indoors when possible, and should check and ensure smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are in working order.
President Donald Trump approved a FEMA emergency declaration for the state of Maryland, according to a news release sent shortly before 10 p.m. This allows for federal disaster assistance to be available for the state to help the efforts of emergency response teams during the storm and in its aftermath.
Some area universities announced closures into the coming week, while many Central Maryland school districts have not. Baltimore and Harford County school systems announced Sunday closures of their facilities and canceled any scheduled activities. Meanwhile, Stevenson University is closed through Tuesday; Morgan State, Loyola University Maryland, Coppin State and University of Maryland, College Park will be closed on Monday.
No county school systems have issued closures because of the weather and could announce dismissals as late as early Monday morning. Montgomery County Schools already had a schedule off day for Monday.
At around 10 p.m., the Maryland Transit Administration announced that beginning at 1 a.m. Sunday, it would be implementing phase 3 service modifications for local buses, and that only CityLink routes will be in operation, while the 201 commuter bus route will be suspended. Additionally, the agency confirmed that the metro subway and light rail systems will both be operating on a regular Sunday schedule.
Almost 12,000 flights across the U.S. set to take off over the weekend were canceled as a monster storm started to wreak havoc Saturday across much of the country and threatened to knock out power for days and snarl major roadways with dangerous ice.
Nearly 280 flights were canceled Saturday across the three major Baltimore-Washington regional airports, with the most taking place at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. BWI Marshall Airport had the fewest cancellations, more than 70, compared with just four nixed flights there on Friday.
Roughly 140 million people, or more than 40% of the U.S. population, are under a winter storm warning from New Mexico to New England. The National Weather Service forecast warned of widespread heavy snow and a band of catastrophic ice stretching from east Texas to North Carolina. By midday Saturday, a quarter of an inch of ice was reported in parts of southeastern Oklahoma, eastern Texas and portions of Louisiana.
According to the Baltimore City Department of Transportation, service on all Charm City Circulator routes was to shut down service at 10 p.m. Saturday. The department plans to resume circulator service at 12 p.m. Sunday but will “continue to monitor weather conditions and may modify service as needed.”
Racquel Bazos, The Associated Press and wire reports contributed to this article.
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