Harford County residents were hunkered down for one of the season's biggest snowstorms Thursday, as schools, government offices and some businesses closed and travel was severely limited in many areas.
With plenty of road clearing to be done overnight, Harford County Public Schools announced shortly after 5 p.m. that schools will be closed again Friday, the third time this week. Essential Personnel should await further instructions from their supervisors before reporting for duty Friday.
All HCPS after school and evening activities are also cancelled Friday.
Thursday's snow began falling shortly before daybreak, coming after a steady overnight rain that changed over to sleet and then all snow as the temperatures dropped.
The state's snow emergency plan was in effect as of 7:30 a.m., which prohibits parking on roads designated as snow emergency routes and the use of snow tires, according to the Harford County Volunteer Fire & EMS Association.
The National Weather Service's Winter Storm Watch for the region remained in effect until 7 p.m.
The City of Aberdeen asked residents to park on the odd-numbered side of the street and clear streets of obstacles and toys.
Havre de Grace city and Bel Air town governments were closed. Aberdeen City Hall was open, however.
Perryville Town Hall was closed and residents with urgent needs were asked to call 443-206-4425. Cecil County Public Schools also canceled classes.
Havre de Grace police asked residents to remove vehicles from Union Avenue and Otsego Street to avoid being towed.
The department reported "very poor" road conditions by about 11:30 a.m. and urged residents to stay home if possible.
Long day at work
State and county highway crews were out early in the morning and worked throughout the day to keep ahead of the falling snow as much as possible, but many side streets were still snow covered late in the afternoon.
"They'll continue to push snow until it stops and then, depending on conditions they will plow to the clear the roads and treat them with salt," county government spokesperson Cindy Mumby said shortly before 4 p.m.
The county had gotten 4 to 5 inches of snow shortly after noon, Harford County Executive Barry Glassman posted on Twitter. He spent most of the day at the Emergency Operations Center in Hickory.
Mumby said crews who had been out working on the roads were also reporting at least 5 inches had fallen by mid-afternoon.
The snow started out heavier in the county's northern end, with the southern end initially just getting rain and freezing rain, but all regions of the county were getting briskly-falling snow by rush hour, Mumby said.
She said about 104 customers near Edgewater Village lost power before 7 a.m. from a transformer malfunction on Harewood Road. BGE maps showed fewer than five customers without power by about 9:30 a.m., however.
Aaron Koos, a BGE spokesperson, said around 4:45 p.m. that the Edgewood power outage had been cleared up.
Small outages around Harford County could be seen on the utility's outage map Thursday evening, including one near Railroad Avenue in Perryman, a second outage in Susquehanna State Park north of Havre de Grace and a third off Paradise Road in Aberdeen. About 20 to 25 customers were affected.
"Generally speaking, so far we haven't seen any significant effect from the storm," Koos said. "The electric system held up well."
The county activated its Snow Plow Tracker app, which lets residents follow plows' routes online at http://apps.harfordcountymd.gov/SnowPlowTracker. The tracker will be reporting until the plows "come home," Mumby said.
The National Weather Service and other forecasting outlets said Harford and the rest of the region could expect total snow accumulation of 6 to 10 inches before it finally stopped Thursday evening and around 5 p.m., it seemed to be tapering off in some areas of the county.
Though temperatures hovered around freezing Thursday afternoon, they were expected to drop sharply overnight to as low as single digits.
In addition to Harford County Public Schools being closed, Harford County government was closed Thursday for all but critical employees. Harford Community College also was closed, including classes at Towson University Northeastern Maryland.
Business goes on
Seasons Pizza was open at Festival at Bel Air, where manager Tina Kauders reported business had been being good and they would stay open as long as orders kept coming in.
"Right now we have cooks and drivers and people here [eating]," Kauders reported at about 12:15 p.m.
"It's going great. A lot of people are surprised that we are open," she said.
Several businesses along Main Street in downtown Bel Air also were open.
We decided to open our doors today, even though it seems like most of Main Street is not open," Mat Stockson, manager of Stockson Printing Co. on North Main Street, said, as he cleared the sidewalk near the shop, which is owned by his father, John.
"We decided to operate," Stockson said. "We have a thin crew today, but we decided to keep our doors open just to keep the production going with our work, in house, just to knock it out the best we can."
Buontempo Bros. pizza restaurant and Main Street Tower Restaurant and Lounge were open.
Richard Lynch, who owns the pizza restaurant with Renato Buontempo, noted that he and the majority of the employees live within walking distance.
He said one employee lives in Aberdeen, and he would be sent home first if weather conditions deteriorated.
"We cut from the outer edge," Lynch said, using a pizza analogy.
Several customers were eating at tables, as others came in for carry-out orders.
Lynch, who said Buontempo Bros. doesn't deliver, noted that he had been filling orders for the Harford County Sheriff's Office and the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company – both within walking distance.
"You'd be surprised how much walk-in traffic we get from the [Bel Air] neighborhoods," he said.
Bill Pannill, who lives in Cecil County and works at the M&T Bank branch on Office Street in Bel Air, came in for carry out.
"It wasn't great, but it was doable as long as you careful and safe and took your time," he said of the drive to Bel Air.
Renato Buontempo, owner of the Tower, said there were about a dozen customers at the restaurant as of 1 p.m.
"They have been doing a lot of carry-out," he said.
Buontempo, who has been in business for 25 years, said the restaurants stay open "99 snows out of 100," although they would close if a state of emergency is declared.
Out and about
One of the busiest intersections east of Bel Air, Routes 543 and 22, was eerily quiet mid-afternoon Thursday, though Wawa seemed to have a steady flow of customers.
Aaron Lampreaux, of Hilltop Lawn Care of Forest Hill, sat outside the convenience store, taking a lunch break.
He and a few others had been out working since about 9:30 Thursday morning and anticipated being out until 9 or 9:30 that night.
He had just finished plowing the Taylor Ridge community - he plowed the streets in his truck, while two others took care of the sidewalks.
It wasn't easy, Lampreaux said, explaining the sidewalks in particular were getting thick.
In the neighborhood behind Wawa, Rose Matarazzo was out shoveling her driveway for the third time Thursday.
"I'm just trying to keep up with it. I have to go to work tomorrow," she said.
Matarazzo's friend who works at the nearby Safeway on Route 22 stayed with her Wednesday night and planned to stay again Thursday.
"I want to make sure she has a parking spot," Matarazzo said.
Adam Merryman and Brock Thompson, who both live in the Fountain Glen neighborhood off Route 543, were out in Merryman's Jeep testing the roads.
"I might have to go to work later and I wanted to see how bad the roads were. I kept it in four-wheel drive the whole time and I slid out twice," Merryman said, but noted they were in neighborhoods, not main roads.
He works at Liberatore's in Bel Air Town Center, where Merryman said the shopping center owner was busy plowing the parking lot.
Brock, who was along for the ride, said not many people were out, though Chili's looked like it was pretty busy.
"I was surprised," he said.
Snowblower accident
County fire and medical officials responded to 38 calls for service between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday, including one report of a traumatic injury from a snowblower, the Harford County Volunteer Fire & EMS Association reported shortly before 4 p.m.
A male was taken to a local hospital for treatment in the snowblower incident, the Association posted on its media Facebook page.
The Harford County Sheriff's Office warned residents to never leave vehicles attended.
The agency posted on Twitter at about 11:15 a.m.: "This morning, a resident was warming up their car... less than 10 minutes it was stolen!"
The 2002 dark blue Nissan Maxima was stolen from the 200 block of Perrywood Court in Aberdeen at about 4:40 a.m., Sheriff's Office spokesperson Cristie Kahler said.
Maryland State Police troopers in the Bel Air Barrack and the JFK Highway Barrack in Perryville were kept busy responding to multiple accidents Thursday.
Sgt. Griffin, of the Bel Air barrack, said some vehicles had gone off the road. He said conditions had been "sloppy," but it was helpful for troopers that many other people were off work and off the roads.
With the snow ending by early evening, Griffin added: "That will give [the SHA] the chance to plow the roads without having to re-plow them," Griffin said.
People were injured in two accidents in Harford County Thursday, according to Rich Gardiner, spokesperson for the Harford County Volunteer Fire & EMS Association.
He said there were minor injuries in a 6:35 a.m. crash along Grier Nursery Road in Pylesville and a 2:47 p.m. crash on I-95 near Aberdeen.
Aegis staff members David Anderson and Erika Butler contributed to this article.