Howard County Winter Storm Update: Snow Totals, Snowfall Rate

The biggest storm of the winter has dumped large amounts of snow on Howard County, causing school and government closings and keeping drivers off the roads.

Snow was continuing to fall Thursday evening, at a rate of more than three inches an hour in Howard County, the State Highway Administration reported just after 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

A winter storm warning is in effect for Baltimore, Howard, Harford, Carroll and Montgomery counties until 5 a.m. Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Moderate to heavy snow is expected to continue through the evening, with 15 to 24 inches of snow accumulating altogether, the weather service reported.

Travel will be "extremely dangerous," the weather service said, and roads will be slippery. Wind gusts up to 35 mph are expected overnight, which could lead to power outages.

Snow fall accumulations across Howard County were in the 14 to 18 inch range as of 8 p.m. Thursday, Howard County government reported.

According to the report, Howard County highway crews have finished plowing and treating the primary and secondary roads but it would be several hours before they could reach neighborhoods and cul-de-sacs. 

Howard County has activated its snow emergency plan, which means parking on designated snow emergency routes is prohibited.

More than a foot of snow piled up around most of Howard County as of 3:30 p.m., according to the National Weather Service, which provided the following unofficial snow totals:

• Clarksville—15 inches
• Columbia—15 inches
• Marriottsville—14.5 inches
• Elkridge—13.3 inches
• Ellicott City—12.5 inches
• Hanover—10.5 inches

How much snow have you gotten? Tell us in the comments!

Related: Howard County Storm-Related Closures