Baltimore, State Highway Administration leaders prepare for snowstorm impacts
Road crews throughout Maryland will be busy into Monday morning, making sure road conditions are drivable during and after this winter storm.
The WJZ First Alert Weather Team issued Alert Weather Days for Sunday and Monday because of accumulating snow that is impacting the east coast from Virginia to New England.
Five or more inches of snow is predicted across Central and Northern Maryland, with a Winter Storm Warning in effect through Monday. Some communities in Northern Maryland could receive up to 10 inches of snow, and 10 to 14 inches of accumulation is possible along the state's Eastern Shore.
In Baltimore, the winter storm is expected to dump between three and five inches.
Maryland road crews at work
Maryland's State Highway Administration (SHA) says this storm will be different than the massive winter storm in January, which brought nearly a foot of snow, accompanied by arctic temperatures.
State officials say the roads are warmer this time, so this early snow really isn't sticking. However, once the temperatures drop overnight, more snow will stick.
Highway officials said roads couldn't be pretreated because it was too warm.
"We just had to hit it the old fashioned way with a snowplow and salt," said SHA spokesperson Charlie Gischlar. "Salt is going to be highly effective because 32 degrees, that's where we're about right now. That's where salt is very effective that and some plowing operations, and then, from what I've been hearing, we're going to get some moderating temperatures that's going to really help us out."
Baltimore winter weather preparations
Baltimore City officials it is standing ready for the worst, but they don't believe this storm will have as many impacts as the last one.
"I am not the weather man, and I'm not God, right? So we'll see how much snow we get, but we know that we're not expecting the ice," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. "We know the last snow storm, the last storm that we had, the hard part was that the ice was on top of a significant amount of snow. We're not expecting to have that. So we think that the cleanup will be a lot easier this time."
Between, Baltimore City crews and contractors, there are about 700 vehicles available for snow removal efforts, and working "around the clock plowing and treating roads as snowfall continues," according to city leaders.
The mayor's office also encourages residents to report city issues to 311, including water problems, snow and ice on streets and sidewalks and downed trees or branches.
City officials also declared a Code Purple winter shelter activation which will open warming centers in Baltimore until 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Here's a list of warming shelters.