Marylanders react to messy weather and road conditions
BALTIMORE — From downpours to the bitter cold, the arctic front made driving a bit hectic Friday. The cold winds dramatically brought down the temperatures, as well as a few things that created obstacles.
The cold is also causing a flash freeze concern for the holiday weekend.
Katherine Gorman was one of the many drivers caught up in Friday morning's rain.
"I was a little concerned it was going to turn to ice, but thankfully it stayed pretty warm enough," she said.
By early afternoon, pools on the side of the road were all that was left, with the winds coming in strong. So strong, it knocked a few things down around the area.
In Catonsville, a downed tree blocked some of the road by the I-195 on-ramp. Then, a downed light pole also got in the way near Patterson Park in Baltimore. Tens of thousands of BGE customers lost power because of incidents like this.
Over in Westminster on Baltimore Boulevard, part of a building fell right onto a car. Fortunately, no one got hurt.
The bitter cold brings in a threat of flash freezing and Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration crews were out Friday to make sure roads had enough salt to prevent ice from forming.
Unfortunately, roads weren't able to be pre-treated before due to all the rain the area's had. Crews will continue to be busy patrolling for ice patches, as well as applying something else to the roads.
"Salt loses its effectiveness at around 20 degrees. so we'll have to then use a little bit of liquid magnesium in combination with the salt," said MDOT SHA spokesman Charlie Gischlar. "That increases the effectiveness down to subzero temperatures."
Eric Cines drove in from Virginia on Wednesday, trying to avoid as much terrible weather as he could. But, with the icy threat this weekend, he said he'll be as careful as he can.
"We're going to the Ravens game tomorrow, hopefully not too much driving other than that," he said.
MDOT SHA maintenance crews have also been patrolling to make sure all drainages are clear of things like twigs, litter and other debris -- to ensure as much rain got off the road as possible.
