Baltimore escaped a late winter storm yesterday with only slippery slush, but Western Maryland was blasted with as much as a foot of snow that caused scores of accidents, including a pile-up that shut down a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 70 west of Hagerstown.

A large storm that moved east from Missouri Saturday night and was expected to dump as much as 6 inches of snow in the Baltimore area all but fizzled. Wet snow, sleet and rain fell on the city for most of the day, but less than 2 inches accumulated -- mostly on grassy areas -- and much of it had turned to slush by nightfall.

"The storm models on Friday and Saturday showed Washington right in the bulls-eye of the storm," said meteorologist Calvin Meadows of the National Weather Service.

"But as it turned out, the worst was in northern and central Maryland," Meadows said. "Sometimes it's just a matter of a few miles. If the storm was 20 miles further south, it would be Washington and Baltimore getting four to six inches of snow."

The intense storm was expected to head northeast toward Cape Cod, Mass., today, spreading 6 to 12 inches of snow in a narrow, hard-to-forecast band from eastern Pennsylvania to the interior of Maine, including New York City and Boston.

Some lingering snow and rain were likely this morning in Baltimore. But relief is on the way. Skies were expected to clear later today, with blustery winds and highs of 35 to 40. The rest of the week should be sunny, forecasters said, with highs rising to the 60s by Wednesday and as high as 70 on Thursday.

The snow began falling around Baltimore at about 9: 30 a.m. yesterday, hours after the storm was expected to strike, and hit suburbs to the north and west the hardest. Slippery road conditions, mostly from slushy build-up, required snow emergency plans to be put in effect in Carroll, Harford, Howard and Baltimore counties.

Falling temperatures, which were forecast to hover around freezing over night, were not expected to complicate the morning commute in the metropolitan area. City salt trucks were scheduled to run all night to prevent the new snow and leftover slush from freezing, said George G. Balog, director of Baltimore's Department of Public Works.

But forecasters said back roads, side streets and sidewalks that have not been salted could be slippery. Police took up fixed positions to avoid unnecessary driving. At 9 p.m. last night, the temperature at the Maryland Science Center was 34 degrees.

The Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. reported about 6,400 customers in Baltimore and the surrounding counties were without power just after 9 p.m. last night due to storm damage.

Roads in Western Maryland yesterday were treacherous and snow-covered, motorists said, despite the hundreds of salt trucks and plows that state highway officials had in position since about 4 a.m. yesterday.

"I mean, I am looking out at about 5 or 6 inches of snow and people are speeding by at 50, 60 mph," said Sgt. Terry Hill of the Hagerstown barracks. "And they think they are going to stop on a dime in this."

Five people were injured, none seriously, in over a dozen separate accidents on a 10-mile stretch of I-70 west of Hagerstown. State police shut down I-70 in both directions between the Clear Spring and Route 56 exits in Washington County at 2 p.m. and spent hours clearing the roadway of damaged vehicles. All lanes were reopened by 8 p.m., but traffic was moving slowly due to poor conditions and emergency vehicles on the road.

The accidents -- at least 15 separate crashes -- involved about 15 cars, two buses and at least one tractor-trailer in the westbound lanes of the highway, Hill said.

The injured were taken to Washington County Hospital in Hagerstown. Other motorists were taken to a fire station in Clear Spring, where they called relatives or friends to make other travel arrangements, Hill said.

Traffic snarls and about 6 inches of snow made it difficult for tow trucks to clear the accidents, Hill said. Troopers were detouring traffic onto U.S. 40 and Route 68, which are parallel to I-70.

Snow emergency plans were also in effect in Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Frederick counties. The State Highway Administration had more than 370 salt trucks and snowplows working in Western Maryland, said spokeswoman Sandi Dodson.

"The trucks had spread salt on [I-70] before the accident," Dodson said.

Snowfall in Western Maryland was expected to end late today and could accumulate up to a foot in some areas, forecasters said.

Pub Date: 3/15/99