Montgomery County Officials Urge Caution in Advance of Expected Freezing Rain Overnight
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 5, 2025
With freezing rain expected overnight, Montgomery County officials are urging residents to prepare for slippery roads and bridges. A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect from 9 p.m. tonight until noon Thursday, Feb. 6. The forecast calls for sleet and freezing rain, with ice accumulations up to two-tenths of an inch.
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The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) Storm Operations Center will activate at 10 p.m. tonight, and MCDOT crews will monitor roadway conditions throughout the event and treat roads as necessary. However, due to the rain that will accompany this storm early on, roads will not be pretreated beforehand.
Residents are likely to see snowplows driving through neighborhoods with plows raised; this is due to ice from freezing temperatures. The plows are only able to push off snow and sleet once it accumulates to about three inches. Plows are not able to sufficiently push off solid ice, especially in the late-night hours when temperatures are at their lowest points. When MCDOT snowplow crews encounter this situation, they raise the plow and apply salt, let it activate, and then go back through and push it off the roadway. This make take several attempts.
Utilities
Icing could also mean downed wires and power outages. The power utilities serving Montgomery County include Pepco, Baltimore Gas & Electric and First Energy. All have downloadable mobile apps for reporting power outages and telephone numbers:
- Baltimore Gas and Electric: 877-778-2222
- Potomac Edison/First Energy : 1-888-544-4877
- PEPCO : 1-877-737-2662
In case of water main breaks or leaks, contact the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) at 301-206-4002, by email to [email protected] or by using the WSSC Water Mobile App .
Stay Informed
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Residents can visit the County’s Snow Information Portal to find weather-related information, such as who is responsible for clearing a roadway, track plow progress in their area and report a missed street. Before making clearing requests, residents are asked to wait until snow operations are announced as complete at the top of the snow information portal page.
Residents can also sign up for Alert Montgomery , the County’s emergency alert system. Alert Montgomery sends messages by email and/or cell phone via text message.
For the latest snow-related updates, visit MCDOT’s Snow Information Portal and follow @MCDOTNow on X , Bluesky , Facebook , and Instagram and subscribe to MCDOT’s “Go Montgomery!” newsletter.
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Release ID: 25-020
Media Contact: Emily DeTitta, 240-372-2282
For updates and link to press release, see here: http://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgportalapps/Press_Detail.aspx?Item_ID=46530
