Poles, Wires Trap Motorists in Vehicles along MD Highway

Storms wound down Monday night after a barrage of rain hit the Baltimore region, causing significant damage and knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people throughout Maryland.

The storm that started pouring rain on Baltimore at about 5 p.m. had slowed down after an hour, but some rain and thunder are expected to continue into the night. The weather service recorded that nearly 1 1/3 inches of rain had fallen at BWI Marshall Airport by 8 p.m. Winds reached 22 mph at BWI during the storm, when gusts reaching 43 mph were recorded at the airport.

Monday was the first time many parts of the forecast area reached a “moderate risk” level for severe thunderstorms in at least 10 years, according to the local weather service office, which covers Maryland west of the Chesapeake Bay, all of Washington, D.C., and some of Northern Virginia. The hazardous weather outlook warned the area of severe storms that could cause damaging winds, large hail and tornadoes.

Dozens of roads remained closed Monday night in Carroll and Harford counties, where a majority of the damage from Monday’s storm took place, due to downed trees and power lines.

Straight-line winds caused over 30 poles to topple onto Route 140 in Westminster, which is closed in both directions between Market Street and Gorsuch Road for an indefinite period of time, according to the State Highway Administration. No injuries were reported, but 34 vehicles were trapped on the highway, Maryland State Police said.

First responders in Harford County tweeted Monday afternoon that they were responding to multiple instances of people being trapped after trees fell on their residences.

The Maryland Department of Emergency Management estimated that over 130,000 power outages in the state after the storm, though that number dwindled by about 33,000 into Monday night.

Carroll County was the hardest hit, with over half of utility customers there losing power after the storm, and tens of thousands estimated to still be without power as Monday night approached. Most of the outages in Carroll are due to the fallen lines on Route 140, which impacted more than 10,200 Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. customers, the utility said Monday night.

“BGE crews are currently assessing the damage to determine a timeline for repair and customer restoration,” the company said in a statement.

Rail service on the northern section of the Baltimore Metro SubwayLink line, between Owings Mills and Mondawmin, and the light rail between BWI and Linthicum stations, is suspended due to the weather and multiple trees on the tracks, according to the Maryland Transit Administration.

Anne Arundel County will remain on a coastal flood advisory until 2 a.m. Tuesday as tides could be significantly higher than average. Monday’s 11 p.m. high tide in Annapolis was expected to be over a foot higher than normal, with water predicted to flood of some of the parking area near Dock Street in Maryland’s capital city. Southern Harford County was placed on a coastal flood advisory as well, in place until 7 a.m. Tuesday.

The weekend’s sunny skies became cloudy with scattered showers starting Sunday night in downtown Baltimore. BWI saw nearly two-thirds an inch of rain by 11 p.m. Sunday, according to the weather service.

Temperatures throughout the week are expected to remain in the mid-80s, reaching 83 degrees Tuesday and 86 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.

Sunny skies are predicted to return Tuesday and Wednesday. But rain might return Thursday afternoon. After mostly sunny skies Friday, there’s a chance of showers and thunderstorms Saturday. Sunday and Monday are expected to be mostly sunny.

Last month was particularly rainy in Central Maryland, with nearly half of the days in July seeing at least some rainfall at BWI, according to the weather service, which reported July’s rainfall total at the airport was about 2 1/3 inches more than average for the month.

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