James Rada, Jr.
Last year was a wet one for the region, with about twice as much rain as typical. With two months under our belts in 2019, are things back to normal?
Despite the couple days of arctic cold and then higher-than-typical warms, the days have been relatively balanced, with just as many days with temperatures above average as below.
The quick-changing temperatures have caused some problems, though.
“The freeze and thaw can cause ground movement, and it doesn’t take much movement to crack a water line,” said Thurmont Chief Administrative Officer Jim Humerick.
Thurmont has had two water main breaks in 2019. Humerick said that, luckily, they weren’t significant, and the town crews were able to locate and repair them quickly.
Emmitsburg’s Town Manager Cathy Willets stated that no town-owned water lines have frozen, although a few private citizens had problems. There has also been no increased pot holes in roads due to the freezing, thawing, and the use of snow melt chemicals.
Rain and snow is also tracking with the area average so far, although this may vary depending on where you measure. It is nowhere near twice as much as the average.
“Emmitsburg’s been faring pretty well with the weather,” Willets said.
Since January, Humerick said, “It’s been a few things you would typically expect to happen in the winter.”
Now that we are entering springtime, the worries about snow will end, and we’ll start to worry about making sure we have enough rainfall to maintain the water levels in municipal wells.
