The snow that blanketed the region last night has closed the region’s public school systems, including those in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Click through for our complete list.
The following school systems are closed: Anne Arundel County schools,Baltimore City schools, Baltimore County schools, Carroll County schools, Cecil County schools,Frederick County schools, Harford County schools, Howard County schools, Montgomery County schools, Prince George’s County schools, Queen Anne's County schools, Talbot County schools, and Washington County schools. That’s pretty much every system that wasn’t still closed for winter break.
Also: DC offices of the Federal Government are open, but employees have the option for unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework. And a Statewide Liberal Leave policy is in effect for state employees.
Many private schools, colleges, and universities are changing their schedules as well; call ahead before you head out. State Highway Administration officials are urging motorists to stay off the roads, if possible, while cleanup continues.
The snow’s causing multiple diversions for local MTA bus routes. You can find out more about them here. And there are major issues for MARC trains; Brunswick line trains are on an "S" schedule delay, and there are significant delays on all MARC lines, with many trains running between 15 and 30 minutes late.
Officials with Baltimore Gas and Electric say their chief concern now is high wind and bitter cold. Utilities say wind and ice can bring down trees and power lines and restoration crews will be on standby through the morning to address outages. Some outages have been reported; you can check out BGE’s outage map here. And if your power goes out, report it to BGE with a call to 877-778-2222.
Baltimore City has declared a Code Blue through today due to the snow and bitterly cold temperatures. The cold weather alert means the city's homeless shelter at 602 Fallsway will be open 24-hours. The facility has 60 beds available for resident seeking meals and a place to sleep. City emergency workers will also be conducting outreach to the city's most vulnerable residents.
