Tuesday, February 01, 2011 – Steve Fermier, John Patti and Robert Lang

Overnight freezing drizzle has put a coating of ice on secondary and neighborhood streets as well as some sidewalks across the Baltimore metro area prompting a number of school delays and closings.

The Maryland State Highway Administration said that icy patches were reported on roads near Bel Air in Harford County, northern Baltimore, and in Frederick and Montgomery counties. The agency is urging motorists to plan for the wintry weather and leave plenty of time for their commute.

Meanwhile, Baltimore Gas and Electric was reporting just a few dozen outages as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, most in Howard County Check BGE outage figures and locations.

State Highway Administration crews pre-treated roads Monday, and spent Monday night and early Tuesday morning salting and treating main roads with chemicals.

Area police are also asking motorists to slow down today, as there are patches of black ice on many roads.

Check HERE for the latest weather statements from the National Weather Service.

BWI-Marshall Airport is reporting a number of flight delays and cancellations. Most of the affected flights are to and from Chicago and other cities in the Midwest, where heavier snow is reported.

Check flight status at BWI.

As of 6:30 a.m., snow emergency plans were in place in Carroll, Frederick, Howard,Montgomery and Washington Counties.

That means there is no parking on roads designated “snow emergency routes,” and all vehicles must have snow tires or chains unless they are equipped with all season radials.

Check for and updated list of Snow Emergencies plans.

A number of school systems are either opening late, or closed today.

School schedule changes are HERE.

THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON EST
TUESDAY. A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY
EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE…LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AND FREEZING DRIZZLE. LIGHT SNOW AND SLEET ARE EXPECTED LATE THIS EVENING.

* ACCUMULATIONS…SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS LESS THAN ONEHALF INCH. ICE ACCUMULATION OF A TRACE TO ONE TENTH INCH. THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS WILL BE NEAR THE MASON-DIXON LINE. ADDITIONAL ICE AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF ONE QUARTER INCH ARE POSSIBLE BEGINNING TUESDAY NIGHT.

* TIMING…LIGHT SNOW…SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN LATE THIS EVENING
WILL CHANGE TO LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AND FREEZING DRIZZLE OVERNIGHT. PRECIPITATION WILL BECOME LIGHT OR STOP DURING THE DAY TUESDAY BEFORE INCREASING IN INTENSITY AND COVERAGE TUESDAY NIGHT.

* TEMPERATURES…LOWS IN THE MID 20S TONIGHT. HIGHS IN THE LOWER
30S TUESDAY.

* WINDS…LIGHT AND VARIABLE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SLEET AND
FREEZING RAIN WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR
SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES…AND USE CAUTION WHILE
DRIVING.

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL.