Stadium parking lots at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium, which were used for snow dumping after the whopping 29.2-inch blizzard last year, were not expected to be needed for that purpose this year, Stadium Authority spokesman Michael Frenz said.
The stadium authority has an agreement with the city to allow people to park in the lots if snow emergency routes are activated, he said.
Jonathan Dean, a spokesman for BWI, said crews would work overnight to keep runways clear. More flight cancellations are expected, he said, especially since the storm will be hitting other parts of the Northeast.
Maryland State Police troopers in several units not normally assigned to road patrol were put on storm duty to aid other agencies in their snow response, officials said.
In Towson, Vince Ayd of Ayd Hardware anticipated the snow with a slightly different perspective. Ayd put his inventory of ice melt away for the season two weeks ago, replacing it on the shelves with grass seed.
On Monday it was back out again, and Ayd said he hoped for a boost in the sale of winter-related supplies — down about 50 percent compared to last year.
“This may be our one and only big one,” Ayd said. “I’m grateful for it.”
March snowfall is relatively common in Maryland, but is less likely than January or February snow because even if temperatures drop below freezing, the sun’s rays are more intense as spring and summer approach.
The Palm Sunday storm of March 28-29, 1942, holds the record for Baltimore’s biggest March snowfall, with a surprise 22 inches. Another storm dropped 10.5 inches March 2-4, 1960.
More recently, a March 1993 storm spawned tornadoes in the Southeast and snow across the Northeast, including 11.3 inches in Baltimore.
Baltimore received more than 20 inches of snow in total during March 1960 and in March 1892. More than 14 inches fell over both March 1937 and 1943.
At least a few inches of snow have fallen in March for four straight years, since 2013, including a foot in March 2014.
Baltimore Sun reporters Erin Cox, Ian Duncan, Rachael Pacella, Emily Chappell and Jacob deNobel, and the Associated Press contributed to this article.
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