Baltimore weather: Historic Ellicott City temporarily floods in Sunday storm, but no business damage seen

The west end of Historic Ellicott City suffered temporary flooding after 3 inches of rain fell during a short period of time Sunday night, but there was no apparent damage to the businesses on upper or lower Main Street, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said in a news release.

The National Weather Service extended its flash flood warning for Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties and Baltimore City until 5:15 a.m. Monday. A more specific warning for Baltimore, Columbia and Ellicott City — meaning flash flooding was imminent, in progress or highly likely — expired at 12:45 a.m.

By 11:10 p.m., 2 to 4 inches of rain had already fallen in some areas after storms rolled through Central Maryland, the weather service said, adding that the Patapsco River was at risk of exceeding minor flood stage.

Earlier in the day, the Howard County Office of Emergency Management activated the Emergency Management Center to monitor the storm and coordinate preemptive responses. Immediately after a flash flood warning was issued in the 9 p.m. hour, the Howard County Police Department shut down Main Street to traffic.

Additionally, the Historic Ellicott City Outdoor Tone Alert System was activated at 9:48 p.m., notifying residents of the flash flood warning and directing residents to seek higher ground. The system was activated again at 10 p.m.

The system is part of a Safe and Sound plan, unveiled in December 2018, as the county’s response to heavy rains in 2011, 2016 and 2018, that caused major flooding in the historic district, killing three people and leaving behind massive destruction. The flood mitigation efforts include retention ponds, some of which are still being built.

There were a few trees down across the county and some gravel that came up along New Cut Road that Department of Public Works crews were working on Monday morning, said Maria Bernadzikowski, director of the county’s office of emergency management.

As of 11:04 p.m., Howard County had more than 1,280 power outages. As of 1:20 p.m. Monday, almost all customers have had their power restored. The Department of Transportation reported no weather-related road closures by Monday morning.

The forecast led to the cancellation of Baltimore’s ResFest, an annual music festival hosted by the St. Francis Neighborhood Center. The Reservoir Hill festival will have a scaled-back event Wednesday outside the St. Francis Neighborhood Center.

[Get the latest weathercast from FOX45 News]

After 2 p.m., Monday will be mostly sunny with a high near 83. That evening, the low will be around 62, with showers and thunderstorms likely before 11 p.m. and a slight chance of showers between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m.

The NWS has a hazardous weather outlook cautioning the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay, tidal Potomac River and I-95 corridor through central Maryland of strong thunderstorms across the waters throughout Monday, also causing a special marine warning.

Tuesday will be mostly sunny with a high near 77, winds around 11 mph and gusts as high as 20 mph. Tuesday night, the low will be around 57, and conditions will be mostly clear.

Clear weather will persist throughout the rest of the week with Wednesday expected to be sunny with a high near 76. Wednesday night, temperatures will get down to the low 60s.

Thursday and Friday will be sunny with temperatures in the low to mid-80s. Thursday night, conditions will remain clear with a low of 60. Friday night will have mostly clear conditions and a low of 64.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly reported when the Safe and Sound plan was released. The Sun regrets the error.