Winter weather advisory issued for Rockville, Montgomery County Saturday, 1-2" snow accumulation possible

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory that includes Montgomery County for tomorrow, Saturday, March 12, 2022, from 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Accuweather and the NWS are forecasting a potential accumulation of 1-to-2 inches of snow. 

While snow is not expected to accumulate by any significant degree on roads and sidewalks, due to warmer temperatures, they will still be slippery from mixed precipitation. Winds may gust up to 50 MPH, causing trees and limbs to fall, and power outages. 

Rain is expected to begin after midnight tonight, and turn to snow around 10:00-11:00 AM Saturday. The temperature will steadily drop throughout the day on Saturday, reaching a brutal low of 19 degrees at 6:00 AM Sunday, with potential for icy spots on wet surfaces. 

Image courtesy National Weather Service

Rockville experiences heavy lightning, some serious flooding in overnight storm

UPDATE - September 1, 2021 at 12:19 PM: Montgomery County police are now asking that any residents of the Rock Creek Woods apartments who left the complex please call them at 301-279-8000, so that they can be accounted for

11:52 AM: Officials have announced that one person has died, and a second is missing in the flooding at Rock Creek Woods apartments on Twinbrook Parkway this morning

A storm that passed through Montgomery County around 3:30 this morning had Rockville in its direct path. Residents unlucky enough to be out on the roads encountered flooding and high water, including along Rockville Pike. 

A resident of Congressional Towers reported water in his apartment as high as seats of the chairs in the room, and said he and others were rescued from the building minutes later by the Rockville Fire Department. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Pete Piringer said that residents of basement apartments in the 13200 block of Twinbrook Parkway had to be rescued, as well.

About 224 Pepco customers are without power right now in Rockville, particularly in the Twinbrook, King Farm and Rockshire areas.

Maryland earthquake felt in Rockville, across DC region

UPDATE - 3:00 AM, August 4, 2021: The USGS now reports that the earthquake occurred at a depth of 3.4 kilometers. Latest USGS map pinpoints Clarksville, MD as epicenter, although it has not been officially named as such yet.

A 2.1 magnitude earthquake was felt in Bethesda, Rockville, Silver Spring, Derwood, and other parts of Montgomery County; Prince George's County, and Howard County at 2:11 AM this morning. The sound was audible here in Montgomery County, and was more noticeable than the shaking of the ground. According to the United States Geological Survey, the epicenter of the earthquake was 3 km from Highland, Maryland.

Power outages in Rockville

The weather this morning has been dominated by ice, rather than the predicted heavy snow. That creates a greater chance of falling limbs and trees, and power outages. Currently, 18 Pepco customers in East Rockville are without power this morning, according to the Pepco outage map.

Rockville declares snow emergency

The City of Rockville is now under a snow emergency, as snow, sleet and ice are expected to result in 3-5 inches of accumulation today. All vehicles must be removed from roadways within the City of Rockville limits, and parked in driveways or garages. 

If there is no off-street parking available, vehicles should be parked along the even-numbered side of the street. On courts or cul-de-sacs, parking is allowed only on the left side of the streets as one enters the cul-de-sac or court. Do not park in the bulb of the court or cul-de-sac.

The city is making satellite parking available for residents in the following locations:

Rockville Civic Center main mansion lot, 603 Edmonston Drive.

Woodley Gardens Park, 900 Nelson Street.

Welsh Park (Mannakee Street side only), at the corner of Martins Lane and Mannakee Street.

Elwood Smith Community Center, 601 Harrington Road.

Maryland SHA treating MD 355 ahead of Wednesday snow event

A significant snowstorm approaching the northeast is expected to drop up to 3 inches of snow on Montgomery County Wednesday into Thursday. The key variable will be how much comes down as snow, and how much as rain. Maryland's State Highway Administration isn't taking any chances. Rockville Pike (MD 355) had already received a layer of deicing solution between Rockville and downtown Bethesda last night, 24 hours before the storm was even expected to arrive.

Rare February severe storm hits Montgomery County

Damaged car on
Norbeck Road

Montgomery County is being pounded by severe storms this morning. A tornado was issued for parts of Gaithersburg and Germantown, as well as the northeast corner of the upcounty near the Howard and Carroll County borders. Flooding has been reported across the upcounty, as have fallen trees and power lines. The whole county is being hit by the unusual February summer-style storm, but the upcounty is being affected the most.

Power lines, tree down on
Darnestown Road at
White Ground Road

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services have received so many emergency calls that they are now operating under Condition Red, which means there may be longer response times, particularly for non-critical incidents. Violent weather and storm damage have also impacted parts of Poolesville, Rockville and Silver Spring, most notably in the Dawsonville, Norbeck Road and Layhill Road areas.

Route 109 is currently blocked between MD 355 and the I-270 overpass after a tree fell across the roadway. Some lanes are also blocked at Route 28 and Route 107. Trees are also reported down by MCFRS on Circle Gate Drive in Germantown.

Photos by Pete Piringer/MCFRS

Hogan declares state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Florence

Potomac River at 

flood stage at

Little Falls, 

White's Ferry closed,

National Guard alerted

Will Hurricane Florence hit Maryland hard? We don't know yet, but Gov. Larry Hogan isn't taking any chances. "While we're hoping for the best, we are preparing for the worst," Hogan said at a press conference, where he announced he has declared a state of emergency. The governor said the declaration would allow the state to mobilize the resources and personnel potentially needed in the areas expected to be hardest hit.

Hogan warned of the strong possibility of "historic, catastrophic, and life-threatening flooding," in coastal and low-lying, flood-prone areas. "At my direction, the state is currently taking action to activate all available resources," he told reporters, "including alerting the Maryland National Guard."

Sporting a yellow-trimmed polo shirt, Hogan said he is in constant contact with the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center, to obtain up-to-the-minute briefings on the storm's track. He said the state's Emergency Management Center is "fully-staffed" at this hour, at that emergency shelters around the state are now standing by to receive displaced residents.

Pepco will face its first real test of its "new" system. The utility will have no excuse to be short on personnel, because Hogan explicitly mentioned that he has personally alerted the state's electrical companies to mobilize now.

The governor urged residents to "start now to prepare your families and your homes for potential heavy rains, wind and possible flooding." He recommended citizens "have water, batteries, and flashlights at the ready in case of power outages."

Hogan said he expected to know more about the storm's potential impacts by later today.

Suburban News Network

Storm Center Update

The National Weather Service has put a Dense Fog Advisory into effect until 10:00 AM this morning. A Flood Warning remains in effect until noon Wednesday. The many preceding days of heavy rain have put the area behind the 8-ball before Florence even arrives near the end of the week.

Already, the Potomac River is above flood stage at Little Falls, and high water has closed White's Ferry for now.

Current temperature in Rockville is 69 degrees. It is 67 in Darnestown, and 68 in Derwood.

The high today will be 81, with a shower or thunderstorm expected this afternoon. Winds are from the west at 1 MPH, gusting to 6 MPH.

City of Rockville closes as Hogan warns of "treacherous" conditions in springtime snowstorm

Special Report: The City of Rockville and all City facilities will be closed today, March 21, 2018, due to the snowstorm. Recycling and refuse collection are also canceled today in Rockville.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan issued an urgent bulletin from Reisterstown warning Marylanders of "treacherous" conditions on roadways during today's springtime snowstorm. The snow is capping off an unusually-chilly March.

“Snow, sleet, and freezing rain falling this evening and overnight could make road conditions treacherous throughout the state. I strongly urge all Marylanders to use common sense, take extreme caution, and avoid travel if possible,” Hogan said. “Keep a close eye on your local weather forecast, and check on family, friends, and neighbors and make sure they are safe throughout this late-season storm.”

Hogan recommended that those who must travel contact friends and family, and let them know where you are going, and when you expect to arrive there. He suggested being cautious when shoveling this heavy, wet snow, and to take frequent breaks to avoid overexertion. Hogan added that it is important to stay hydrated when shoveling outdoors.

The governor suggested stocking your vehicle with "car chargers," and kitty litter or sand, which he said would supply traction to spinning wheels. Hogan also advised residents to keep gadgets charged, and warned residents to never use generators indoors. He cautioned everyone to be prepared for power outages.

Hogan warns residents of extreme winds today, 28 outages already reported across MoCo

“I urge all Marylanders to 

take this severe weather

 very seriously and 

prepare now” 

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has issued a statement warning residents to be prepared for extreme wind gusts up to 70 MPH today. “I urge all Marylanders to take this severe weather very seriously and prepare now,” Hogan said in an urgent message from Reisterstown. “These wind speeds have the potential of causing power outages and creating hazardous conditions for travel and being outdoors starting Friday morning. Be sure to check on your family, friends, and neighbors so that we all are prepared for this rare and potentially very dangerous weather event.”

Hogan advised residents to avoid traveling this morning, never to run a generator indoors, and to not leave pets outdoors today. High winds are expected to fell many trees and cause major power outages across the state. There have already been 28 reports of power outages across Montgomery County as of early this morning.

Tree falls on transformer and power lines in Rockville

Tree crashed into 100-year-old resident's
bedroom on E. Bexhill Drive

High winds got a quick start felling trees across Montgomery County overnight. Among the first to fall landed on a house in the 4200 block of Red Maple Court near Cedar Tree Drive in Burtonsville. No one was injured in that incident, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Pete Piringer.

One of the other early collapses was a tree at Baltimore Road and Gladstone Drive in Rockville. That one took out a Pepco transformer and power lines, causing a temporary road closure.

The very first tree to fall in the County was in Kensington, which landed on a house at 9912 E. Bexhill Drive. Tragically, there was not only significant damage to the home, but a 100-year-old resident was rushed to the hospital as a Priority 2 trauma patient. The victim was trapped in her crushed bedroom before being extricated by firefighters.

Photo by Pete Piringer

Rockville snow and power outage update #WinterStormJonas #Jonas #Blizzard2016

Just before 1:00 AM there was a power outage near Shady Grove Road near King Farm and Interstate 270. Five customers were affected, but Pepco reports service has now been restored.

The worst of the storm is just arriving in the area. Wind gusts are projected to be 45-65 MPH through 1:00 PM today. Winds are currently 5 MPH in Rockville.

Snow accumulation around Rockville ranges from 4.8-5.1" at last report.

Current temperatures around Rockville:

Woodley Gardens: 20.8°F

Watts Branch Parkway: 20.8°

Twinbrook: 21.9°

MoCo snow fiasco (Photos)

A minimal snowstorm downplayed by forecasters turned into a major traffic disaster last night, as Montgomery County and the state of Maryland failed to pretreat roadways. The result? A six-car pileup in front of Pyle Middle School in Bethesda, dozens of fender benders, stuck and abandoned cars, drivers running out of gas on the Capital Beltway, and more than a few pedestrian wipeouts.

Traffic on the Beltway
after midnight

"I'm sleeping on the couch at work," tweeted
Fresh 94.7 FM DJ Dana McKay

"Good lord what a cluster,"
@jose3030 tweeted

By early this morning, the Beltway was in catastrophic shape, entirely shut down near the I-270 Spur in Bethesda. Drivers were pulling over to sleep in their cars, and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesperson Pete Piringer reported that even fire vehicles were stuck in places for hours.

Six-car Pyle-up by
Pyle Middle School

Twitter user Justin Fidler reported from the scene that there were no injuries in the 6-car "Pyle-up" in front of the school, but that Wilson Lane was closed in both directions as firefighters awaited the arrival of a salt truck.

Montgomery County's storm operations center announced it was activated - two hours after the storm hit and the chaos began. The County Department of Highway Services attempted to awaken members of the Montgomery County Council, who were asleep at the switch during the entire storm. Only Councilmembers Roger Berliner, Sid Katz and Nancy Navarro responded by retweeting the DHS message regarding current operations late Wednesday evening.

MoCo Highway Services tries
to awaken Montgomery County
Councilmembers...

...who were largely asleep
at the switch during the storm

African-American mayors of
Washington take a lot of heat
for snow disasters; why don't white
leaders in MoCo get bad local press?

Many drivers were asking what had gone wrong, and took to social media to rip local authorities for their negligence. The Montgomery County Civic Federation asked MoCo transportation officials why the County and State continue to be unable to coordinate snow operations within the County.

"Pitiful job!" in Bethesda

Rockville to Silver Spring in
3.5 hours

Aspen Hill was "bad"

"Not one plow" in Wheaton

Failure to pretreat all state and most County roads not only created terrible driving conditions, but also made it difficult for snowplows and salt trucks to clear the hard sheet on roads by this morning's rush hour. In the worst-case scenario, remnants of this small storm could remain in many spots as a hard ice foundation, soon to be piled high with snow on top when Winter Storm Jonas arrives tomorrow.

Will anyone among Montgomery County's "leadership" be held accountable for the disastrous storm response, property damage and injuries? Not by the Washington Post. The newspaper's initial story on storm response is critical of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, but mysteriously passes on assigning similar blame to elected officials here in Montgomery County. Here we go again. The disasters will continue until there are consequences at the ballot box.

ROCKVILLE SNOW UPDATE/FORECAST #RKV #WEATHER

A few days before springing forward to Daylight Savings Time, winter is going out kicking and screaming with another snowstorm headed our way tonight. We will be experiencing rain throughout the day today with our relatively warmer temperatures (our high will be 46°F this afternoon), but overnight that will switch to snow. By 5 AM Thursday, we'll be at the freezing mark - just in time for rush hour, of course.

Snow will begin to taper off by 5 PM Thursday, and our total accumulation will be in the 3"-7" range, with some forecasters calling for 10" at the higher end of the spectrum. A frigid Friday means we'll be iced in by whatever has fallen until it begins to melt Saturday. If recent storms are a guide, that initial freeze will slow the melting process even once temperatures have gone above freezing this weekend.

Our current temperature is a downright-balmy 39°, and fog will be a problem early this morning. Take an umbrella. Winds are WSW at 4 MPH.

Stay tuned here and on Twitter at @RockvilleNights for updates throughout the storm tonight and tomorrow.

ROCKVILLE SNOW UPDATE AND FORECAST #RKV

The DC area will be under a Winter Weather Advisory from noon until 10:00 PM tonight, as snow, sleet and freezing rain associated with Winter Storm Thor are expected to create hazardous road conditions this evening.

Thor is expected to hit at midday. We will be getting up to an inch of snow and sleet, according to the NWS; the Weather Channel is showing slightly higher amounts.

What could be worse for drivers, falling limbs and trees, and power outages, is that we are again facing a coating of ice around a tenth of an inch today.

It is currently a frigid 22°F. The good news is that, beginning around 7:00 PM tonight, we will be rising above freezing, and continue to heat up overnight. That will turn the precipitation into rain.

Prepare to enjoy a rainy but comparatively toasty 47° high on Wednesday.

ROCKVILLE SNOW FORECAST - WEATHER

The snow forecast for Rockville is insignificant today. Expect a mix of rain and snow between early morning and mid-afternoon. Temperatures are forecast to remain above freezing throughout the day. Clouds will give way to clear skies by 8:00 tonight, but temperatures will drop below freezing - expect them to be in the upper twenties overnight.

HOW MANY INCHES OF SNOW WILL ROCKVILLE GET FROM WINTER STORM SATURN?

Rockville is under a Winter Storm Watch right now. The sun is shining, but there's a wintry chill in the air.

Winter Storm Saturn is on its way to the DC area.

How many inches of snow will end up falling on Rockville tonight and on Wednesday?

The average prediction is 5-6 inches. Some forecasters say it could be as many as 8-12.

But here's an intriguing prediction: the now-famous Euro Model is saying the DC area will receive a 1-3" accumulation. This contradicts the majority of forecasts. Yet it is intriguing because the Euro Model was dead-right about the hurricane last fall.

The fact is, nobody knows. But conditions are right for up to a foot of snow.  And it is supposed to be a wet, heavy snow. That means more effort to shovel and plow for humans and machines.

Even though the Euro Model sounds unlikely, you can't rule out the data from a model that has been accurate so many times.

The fact that temperatures will rise above freezing on Wednesday could certainly reduce the potential total accumulation.

But that ice and slush will freeze solid after dark again, so watch out.

Today, expect light showers by 5:00 PM, changing over to snow after dark.  Accumulation of 1-2" possible tonight. Winds gusting to 30 MPH.

Wednesday, heavy showers and heavy snow. Accumulation of 5-12" possible through Thursday morning. Winds will gust to 35 MPH. Visibility could be affected if snowfall is heavy, due to winds.

Metro and Metrobus are total wildcards in recent years, in contrast to their past practice of operation during all but the worst snows in prior decades.

Stay tuned here and at @RockvilleNights on Twitter for updates throughout the storm!