Montgomery County public schools will open two hours late Thursday, the school system announced Wednesday night.
Classes were canceled Wednesday after a storm system brought a mix of snow, sleeting and freezing rain before dawn.
Thursday’s morning pre-kindergarten, Head Start, half-day programs and field trips have been canceled, the school system announced.
The National Weather Service extended a winter storm warning for Montgomery County until 10 p.m. as snow turns to freezing rain and sleet.
The weather services also bumped the expected snow accumulation from a high of 5 inches up to a possible 7 inches.
By afternoon, Germantown leads the county in snow accumulation at 6.1 inches, according to the weather service. Rockville and Damascus have topped 5 inches, with Gaithersburg at the 5-inch mark.
The Montgomery County Department of Transportation reported crews continue to plow emergency and primary roadways.
The AAA Mid-Atlantic office reported emergency roadside assistance calls are down 40 percent compared to this time last year, suggesting Maryland drivers have stayed off the roads during the snowstorms of 2019. Crews have handled more than 400 calls.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service personnel responded to single-digit collisions this afternoon, according to spokesman Pete Piringer. A snow blower caught fire in a garage on Ridge Road in Damascus, but the fire is under control.
A CSX railroad gate crossing arm malfunctioned and train traffic was stopped on Randolph Road at Nebel Street around 1:15 p.m., Piringer reported. Excessive salt caused the arm to malfunction, and railroad maintenance technicians had to clean the equipment. The tracks were reopened in about half an hour. MARC commuter rail service on the Brunswick Line, which uses the tracks, was called off today.
Maryland State Police Rockville barrack responded to eight crashes.
About 20 residents remain without power according to Pepco’s outage map, but there were only a handful of issues across the county.
“The local energy grid held up very well today with few scattered weather-related outages caused by downed trees and tree limbs and vehicles contracting utility poles,” Pepco spokesman Ben Armstrong said in an email.
In addition to schools, federal, state and county government offices were closed Wednesday.
