Howard County is bracing for a much-anticipated storm that threatens to dump up to two feet of snow on the Baltimore region.

Snow will begin around lunchtime Friday and continue into Saturday with near blizzard conditions, said Tom Kines, an Accu-Weather meteorologist.

The storm will be heaviest Friday night and Howard County can expect 12 to 18 inches of accumulation.

“It looks like if everything came together, it could be two feet,” Kines said Thursday afternoon.

James Irwin, director of public works for the county, said his staff is preparing its 100 snow plows, salt trucks, front-end loaders and other equipment to tackle 800 miles of county roads over the weekend.

Irwin said crews are resting up from snow clearing completed earlier this week and in preparation of the storm.

“We focus on first trying to get salt down on every street in the county and then during the storm we focus on getting the primary roads and then the secondary roads so they’re passable,” Irwin said.

This season’s unusual amount of snow, including a storm that dumped 21 inches in less than 24 hours, has left the county’s snow removal budget $1.3 million in the hole, Irwin said.

His department will look to recoup the funds from a county contingency account later in the year.

So far this winter Howard County has seen more than 35 inches of snow. The record, set in 2002 - 2003 is 58.1 inches.

“We could make a run at it this winter,” Kines said.

— Sarah Breitenbach

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