Snowpocalypse in Maryland

 

The first of two back-to-back blizzards to strike Maryland
in 2010

The Snowiest Winter in Maryland History

In the winter of 2009-2010, Maryland was hit with 3 massive blizzards that left over 80 inches of snow on the ground. The first blizzard dumped 23 inches of snow over the course of about 12 hours on December 19, 2009. That set a single day record for the state, beating the previous record by 2 inches. After a brief reprieve from the snow, we were hit with back-to-back blizzards during the first week of February. The first blizzard started on February 5th and rolled all the way through the night of the 6th, leaving a total of 25 inches of snow and setting another record for the most snow in a 24 hour period. Just as the first blizzard swept through, there were already reports of another one forming. That one struck just 3 days later on February 9th, lasting until the 10th. While not quite as impressive, it left another 19.5 inches of snow on top of the 25 inches from the previous storm that had not begun melting. There were a few smaller snow totals, including 7 more inches left at the end of February to push the total amount of snow to 6 feet 7 inches. To put this all in perspective, Maryland gets, on average, 20 inches of snow during the whole winter. 

The snow banks left after plowing the roads

What was the Response?

Many Marylanders suffered power outages due to the amount of snow weighing down the power lines. The plows starting working over time as soon as the snow started falling, but they could only keep major highways open, meaning that thousands were essentially trapped in their neighborhoods. Even weeks after the storms had rolled through, the snow banks left from plowing towered up multiple feet in the air. In Baltimore, they had to call in a Snow Dragon from Canada. This machine can melt 100 tons of snow per hour and they dumped the water into the Inner Harbor of Baltimore. It took two weeks of almost non-stop use for the Snow Dragon to melt enough of the snow that Baltimore was completely traversable. 

The Snow Dragon in use

My Experience

I remember my parents being a little worried about the first blizzard in December. They rushed to the store to stock up on food, as they weren't sure how long we would be snowed in for. We only ended up missing one day of school because the storm came on a Saturday, giving them a good head start on clear the roads. Me and my sister were super excited and build a pretty large igloo in our front yard (well my dad built it but we helped a little). We played cards and drank hot chocolate inside and had a lot of fun. We did wish that it had happened during the week so we could have missed more school. Little did we know, our wish was about to come true in February. My parents were not very happy when they saw the forecast of another blizzard and again prepared to be locked in the house. We went to bed just as the snow started falling and when we woke up super early to check if we were going to school, there had to already be 10 inches of snow on the ground. We rushed outside to play in the snow before our parents had even woken up. For the first couple of days we had off school, we had so much fun playing in the snow. Our parents probably got tired of us not having school because I remember them complaining about what was the point of having school if we aren't ever going to go. After a week off of school, I'm sure all of the parents started complaining because they made us go back even though there was still at least a foot of snow left on the ground. We did have to go to school for an extra 5 days at the end of the year, but we all agreed that it was worth it. That winter was so crazy that people who were old enough to remember it still bring it up quite a bit. 

Sources:

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/remember-snowmageddon/26252461

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/snow/201013

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/archives-2009-one-day-record-snowfall-baltimore/30260463

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/snowmageddon-4-feet-snow-maryland-10-years-ago-weather-baltimore/30780018