hurricaneWatch

Hello and welcome to a brand new season of adverse weather conditions. Silver Chips Online's crack weather team is back in action with KC Costanzo and Branden Buehler at the helm. As you may already know, the East Coast is about to get walloped by Hurricane Isabel and while Montgomery County won't bear the brunt of the storm, we're still going to get hit with more than drizzles and a tropical breeze.

Here's what CNN, The Washington Post, and Weather.com are predicting:

» Wind: 40-60 m.p.h. in Southern Maryland about midday Thursday; hurricane-force winds possible during the night.

» Water: 3-6 inches of rain in DC-Baltimore area.

» According to the people who know about this stuff: "Because we're very wet, a garden-variety storm can cause problems. If it takes its time coming through, clearly we're going to have significant flooding." - Frank Richards, Weather Service hydrologist

Chips' best guess: 10% chance of cancellation on Thursday. The storm has weakened since it was first reported, though meteorologists say it could pick back up. When there's wind there's always the possibility of power outages caused by fallen trees. Given the fact that we had a two-hour delay at the beginning of the school year for a storm that shouldn't rival the one that's approaching, all hope is not lost, Blazers. Still, don't bet your lunch money on this one.

Check the Silver Chips Online weather page for additional information, including a link to real-time weather conditions at Blair.

MCPS weather policies can be found on their emergency information page.

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