Snow Likely to Be Mostly Melted Next Week

A National Weather Service meteorologist said the snow in southern Montgomery County could disappear by Wednesday

By Andrew Metcalf

The parking lot at the fairgrounds in Gaithersburg is a major dumping spot for snow hauled away from state and county roads Aaron Kraut

By next Wednesday, most of this snow may be gone.

National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Witt said Wednesday afternoon that the weekend’s snowfall in Montgomery County melt at a rate of three to five inches per day over the past two days thanks to mild weather.

Witt said most of the southern areas of the county still had between 10 to 12 inches of snow as of Wednesday, with 12 to 16 inches in the northern part of the county. The weather service measured from 18 to 39 inches in the county after the storm stopped Sunday.

He said the melting rate will slow Wednesday night when temperatures drop, but temperatures over the next few days that are predicted to be in the mid- to high-40s will continue to melt the snow at an inch per day. Temperatures are expected to rise into the 50s from Sunday through next Thursday, Witt said.

“Precipitation is going to increase during that time, but it’s going to be rain,” Witt said. “There’s a good chance of rain Tuesday into next Wednesday that’s likely going to dilute the snow or pretty much melt it.”

He said by next Thursday there may be only an inch or less of snow in southern Montgomery County, while four to six inches may still exist in the northern portion of the county.

What’s likely to remain after that, however, are the massive piles of snow that plows created while clearing roads and parking lots. Witt said most of them will take three to five weeks to melt.

“Even then, there might be some random isolated piles that still exist on the first day of spring,” Witt said.

Perhaps the biggest piles of snow in Montgomery County are being created in Gaithersburg, where dump truck operators are hauling snow collected from county and state roadways.

The staging ground for all the snow is the parking lot of the Montgomery County Agricultural Fairgrounds on Perry Parkway. On Wednesday afternoon, about two dozen trucks were lined up at the site, waiting to dump snow on mounds that reached top heights of about 15-20 feet.

There are five snow dumping grounds around the county, according to county Highway Services Chief Richard Dorsey.

Much of the snow is coming from the central business districts of Bethesda, Wheaton and Silver Spring.

Ken Hartman, director of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, said that crews would be removing plowed snow in the Bethesda central business district for the third and final night on Wednesday.

Photos and additional reporting from Gaithersburg by Aaron Kraut