Updated: Steady precipitation coupled with near-freezing temperatures complicated driving conditions on Tuesday as ice accumulated around Montgomery County.
The National Weather Service extended a winter weather advisory until 4 p.m. for the Bethesda area and until 7 p.m. for the northern portions of the county.
Ice accumulations of 0.1 to 0.2 inches in central and southeast Montgomery County were predicted and the weather service warned of travel difficulties.
The Maryland Emergency Management Agency reported calls of downed trees and power lines prior to 8:30 a.m., urging residents to “remain vigilant” during commutes.
Montgomery County Public Schools opened on time.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Pete Piringer said there were two dozen incidents throughout the area involving downed trees, electrical wires in roadways and fires caused by damaged power lines Tuesday morning.
Piringer said freezing rain and its corresponding consequences happens infrequently, but it does happen. The ice brings down trees and power lines, often resulting in damages to transformers and fires.
Pepco’s online outage map shows about a dozen issues across the county. Major outages include 252 customers without power in Rockville near West Gude Drive, 74 customers in Gaithersburg near Woodfield Road and 16 customers in Spencerville near New Hampshire Avenue.
Despite all of the incidents, Piringer said there haven’t been any major injuries and only a few vehicle collisions.
Here are some of the problems reported by the fire service:
Ashton
Wires down and lanes blocked at Astoria Lane and Tucker Lane at 7:52 a.m.
Brookeville
Transformer smoking, power out in the 21000 block of New Hampshire Avenue near Rocky Glen Drive at 8:58 a.m. Car found in ditch at 9:23 a.m. following earlier collision.
Burtonsville
Wires down, tree on fire at Old Columbia Pike and Bell Road at 10:09 a.m.
Clarksburg
Brush fire likely caused by downed wire at Lewisdale Road and Aiken Drive at 9:12 a.m.
Damascus
Wires down and lanes blocked at Damascus Road and Reva Drive at 8 a.m.
Trees and wires down, power out at Kakae Drive near Ridge Road at 8:21 a.m.
Trees and wires down in the 28400 block of Honeysuckle Drive at 8:35 a.m.
Tree limbs down, transformer smoking at Ridge Road and Brown Church Road at 8:48 a.m.
Wires down, transforming smoking near Clearwater Court at 9:16 a.m.
Wires and trees down at Log House Road near Founders Way at 10:43 a.m.
Tree blocking road in the 9100 block of Holsey Road off Ridge Road at 11:35 a.m.
Derwood
Tree branches and wires down, power out and a transformer smoking in the 18500 block of Muncaster Mill Road at 8:33 a.m.
Gaithersburg
Wires down, transformer burning at Meem Drive and Chestnut Street at 8:38 a.m.
Transformer on fire at Muddy Branch Road and King James Way at 8:39 a.m.
Brush fire with wires down in the 24200 block of Welsh Road at 10:19 a.m.
Tree fell and pulled wires from residence in the 20900 block of Brooke Knolls Way at 10:41 a.m. MCFRS personnel investigated an electrical odor of smoke in the house.
Tree down, lanes blocked in the 8100 block of Exodus Drive at 11:13 a.m.
Germantown
Firefighters investigated smoke at a residence in the 14100 block of Schaeffer Road near Richter Farm Road at 7:33 a.m. A tree and wires were down by the house. No fire was found and occupants escaped without injury.
Tree down blocking road in the 10800 block of Brink Road at 9:39.
Laytonsville
Wires down at Laytonsville Road near Hipsley Mill Road at 9:53 a.m.
Olney
Wires down, lanes blocked at 3200 Emory Church Rd. near North Brook Drive at 9:54 a.m.
Wires and tree down at MedSTAR Montgomery Medical Center at 10:34 a.m.
Silver Spring
Wires down, tree on fire in the 700 block of McNeil Lane at 9:11 a.m.
Power lines blocking road in the 15500 block of Thompson Road at 9:24 a.m.
Clarification: The original version of this story said a Pepco person did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the reporter did not leave a message with the company. The story no longer references contact with Pepco and just cites outage map data.
