The roads were pretty empty yesterday evening as the cold weather, snow showers and wind made travel hazardous in Garrett County. The weather for this weekend will remain cold. There is a windchill advisory through Saturday evening; a high temp of 1-degree with a wind chill of -29 today and winds gusting to 36mph. Tomorrow will be much of the same and Sunday will feel like a heat wave with a high of 26-degrees. Snow accumulations of less than an inch expected each day (today through Sunday).
The current weather conditions up and down the East coast have been caused by a “Bomb Cyclone” (really). According to the New York Times, the barometric pressure must drop by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours for a storm to be called a bomb cyclone; the formation of such a storm is called bombogenesis. Now you know.
It is Heroes Day at Wisp today! Military and rescue personnel receive free lift tickets and other specials for themselves and members of their immediate family. Check out the Wisp event calendar and/or call for more specifics.
The Stage Wisp Concert by blues artist Eli Cook has been cancelled for this evening and will be rescheduled to a later date.
The Winter Farmers Market scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday) has been cancelled. The next Market will be held Saturday January 20th from 11:00am – 1:00pm indoors at the Mary Browning Senior Center in Oakland.
Garrett County Public Safety Communications has released the year-end totals for 2017:
Total incoming calls into the communications center- 42,471Police Incidents
Garrett County Sheriffs Office- 12,011
Oakland City Police- 418
Maryland State Police- 1,349
Natural Resource Police- 78
Police Total- 13,856EMS Incidents
Northern Garrett Grantsville- 659
Northern Garrett Friendsville- 370
Southern Garrett Oakland- 1,765
Bittinger Ems- 255
Garrett County EMS Mchenry- 1,108
EMS Total- 4,157
Fire Incidents
Deer Park Community VFD- 217
Deep Creek Volunteer Fire Company- 274
Oakland Vol. Fire Dept.- 331
Accident VFD- 183
Grantsville FireDept- 221
Kitzmiller Volunteer Fire Department- 73
Eastern Garrett Volunteer Fire Dept.- 288
Bittinger Volunteer Fire Department- 134
Bloomington Volunteer Fire Company- 141
Friendsville Volunteer Fire Department- 253
Gorman Fire Department- 99
Fire Total- 2,214
Allegany Arts Council is presenting Start to Finish, an interactive, studio-artist exhibition, this month. Participating artists will gather in the Saville Gallery in Cumberland to create original artwork using a range of method and media. Artists will be available while they work to speak with visitors about technique, answer questions, and provide demonstrations. While “off-the-mountain” check first to make sure they are open due to the weather this weekend.
The Ruth Enlow Library and Garrett County Family Support Services will co-host a free children’s Sensory Movie on Saturday, January 13th, from 1:00pm – 2:00pm, at the Oakland branch. This interactive program will include activities specifically designed for 3 – 12-year-olds who have Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, or other special needs that create sensory sensitivities. For more information, contact Susanne at 301-334-3996 ext. 0105 or skight@relib.net.
In case you haven’t already, you can sign up to receive school closing and alert text messages for Garrett County Public Schools.
So, the DNR offers a program called “Become an Outdoors Woman” … Here is a short story about one woman’s session in Deep Creek Lake for your snow day: “So that’s how I found myself on a sunny afternoon on Sept. 8 driving through a snow shower and wondering if I should have packed some long underwear.”
Frozen Muddy Creek Falls:
Photo by Mary Helen Spear
