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Locals still recall the snowstorm of Palm Sunday, 1942
NEWS
Snow startled city in 1942; Storm: A heavy spring snowfall caught residents by surprise on Palm Sunday, shut down many forms of transportation and kept people at home.
By Frederick N. Rasmussen
Baltimore Sun • Mar 27, 1999 at 12:00 am
It was an innocuous-enough weather forecast that greeted readers of The Sun and Evening Sun on March 28, 1942, as they busied themselves with preparations for Holy Week and Easter. ... "For Baltimore and Vicinity -- Becoming colder today, with light showers ending before noon" and with The Evening Sun reporting: "Maryland -- Somewhat colder tonight, with snow flurries in the west portion."
The next day, Marylanders awakened to find it snowing. ... It snowed from 2 a.m. Sunday until 9 p.m. Sunday evening. ... By the time the storm ended, 22 inches of snow filled the streets of Baltimore while it dumped 36 inches on Carroll County. Westminster received 30 inches and Centreville on the Eastern Shore was hit with 10.
The 22-inch snowfall nearly topped Baltimore's record, 24.5 inches, set in 1924. It nearly doubled the heaviest previous March total of 12 inches, established in 1892. ... John R. Weeks, a Baltimore weatherman, described the snowstorm as a "freak." He explained to reporters that "it's what they call a 'sugar snow.' As it melts, the water will tend to be absorbed in the ground, a condition that makes more sap in the trees and shrubs later in the spring." ... He said the storm was caused by "an unusual condition of quiet air with the temperature hanging at a precise level to provide snow instead of rain."
The Sun report read: "The snow, characterized by the Weather Bureau as 'wet and clinging,' tied up vehicular traffic all over the State. Thousands of vehicles were abandoned by their owner, many of them stuck athwart traffic lanes, preventing movement by other vehicles." ... Telephone and power lines snapped under the weight of the snow. Tree limbs blocked roads and highways throughout the state. ... "Streetcars, trackless trolleys and busses were halted or seriously delayed despite the heroic efforts of transit officials and their employees to keep their vehicles moving," reported The Sun. "An Old Bay Line cargo boat, the 'State of Virginia,' went aground early yesterday morning off Hoppers Island halfway up the Chesapeake Bay, as a result of poor visibility,"
{snip}
Pub Date: 3/27/99
Snow startled city in 1942; Storm: A heavy spring snowfall caught residents by surprise on Palm Sunday, shut down many forms of transportation and kept people at home.
By Frederick N. Rasmussen
Baltimore Sun • Mar 27, 1999 at 12:00 am
It was an innocuous-enough weather forecast that greeted readers of The Sun and Evening Sun on March 28, 1942, as they busied themselves with preparations for Holy Week and Easter. ... "For Baltimore and Vicinity -- Becoming colder today, with light showers ending before noon" and with The Evening Sun reporting: "Maryland -- Somewhat colder tonight, with snow flurries in the west portion."
The next day, Marylanders awakened to find it snowing. ... It snowed from 2 a.m. Sunday until 9 p.m. Sunday evening. ... By the time the storm ended, 22 inches of snow filled the streets of Baltimore while it dumped 36 inches on Carroll County. Westminster received 30 inches and Centreville on the Eastern Shore was hit with 10.
The 22-inch snowfall nearly topped Baltimore's record, 24.5 inches, set in 1924. It nearly doubled the heaviest previous March total of 12 inches, established in 1892. ... John R. Weeks, a Baltimore weatherman, described the snowstorm as a "freak." He explained to reporters that "it's what they call a 'sugar snow.' As it melts, the water will tend to be absorbed in the ground, a condition that makes more sap in the trees and shrubs later in the spring." ... He said the storm was caused by "an unusual condition of quiet air with the temperature hanging at a precise level to provide snow instead of rain."
The Sun report read: "The snow, characterized by the Weather Bureau as 'wet and clinging,' tied up vehicular traffic all over the State. Thousands of vehicles were abandoned by their owner, many of them stuck athwart traffic lanes, preventing movement by other vehicles." ... Telephone and power lines snapped under the weight of the snow. Tree limbs blocked roads and highways throughout the state. ... "Streetcars, trackless trolleys and busses were halted or seriously delayed despite the heroic efforts of transit officials and their employees to keep their vehicles moving," reported The Sun. "An Old Bay Line cargo boat, the 'State of Virginia,' went aground early yesterday morning off Hoppers Island halfway up the Chesapeake Bay, as a result of poor visibility,"
{snip}
Pub Date: 3/27/99