WHERE IS SANDY? WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY AFTER THE SUPERSTORM - POTOMAC RIVER FLOODING, AIRPORT OPENINGS AND CLOSINGS, AMTRAK

BETHESDA STORM CENTER

SANDY UPDATE

Bethesda may have dodged a bullet, but flooding remains a serious issue here and throughout the DC area today.  At 3 AM, the Potomac River was only 4" away from flood stage at Little Falls.  It is expected to reach and surpass flood stage within hours.  Then it is expected to recede into Thursday.  Potomac flooding also means creek flooding, so continue to drive with caution near waterways like Little Falls Stream, Booze Creek, etc.

WHERE IS SANDY?

Superstorm Sandy is currently near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at this hour.  It will continue northward, and its cloud mass currently stretches from the Great Lakes to New England.  Sandy continues to dump snow to its southwest, with one Western Maryland town having 29" so far.

BETHESDA FORECAST

Mostly cloudy today, with highs in the mid-50s.  Breeze SW, 10-15 MPH.

TRANSIT, TRAVEL, TRAINS, AIRPORTS

Reagan National, Dulles and BWI airports are open.

Newark Liberty and JFK Airports in New York opened at 7 AM this morning.  Call your airline to confirm your flight before leaving home.

Amtrak service has resumed between DC and Philadelphia, but not to New York.  Amtrak is operating south of DC, but not to Chicago.  Again, call ahead, as this could change at any time.

Vamoose Bus has resumed service to New York City from Waverly Street in downtown Bethesda.

Metro subway, Metrobus, Ride On, MARC, MTA bus, Maryland commuter buses, and MTA light rail and subway are all operating this morning.

ETC.

Little Falls Parkway has reopened.

Early voting in Maryland: 8 AM - 9 PM today.

Stay tuned for more, and make sure to follow me on Twitter at @BethesdaRow for all the latest Sandy coverage!

SUPERSTORM SANDY ROUGHS UP MARYLAND, DC; FLOODING STILL AHEAD; NYC, NJ, BREEZY, ROCKAWAY DEVASTATED

BETHESDA STORM CENTER

SANDY UPDATE

Today will be a day of damage assessment in Bethesda, and the DC area.  We've taken damage for sure, and it's too early to know just how much.  But we can also be thankful that we clearly did not take the beating that New York City and New Jersey did.

Over the night, winds in Bethesda significantly decreased after 1:00 AM.  Some forecasters are saying we could still have occasional gusts up to 50 MPH through the evening.  In general, though, expect winds to peak in the high 20s today.  We could get 4-5" more rain before Sandy moves on.  And a crest is moving down the Potomac River from Harpers Ferry.  That will cause flooding down here eventually, particularly tomorrow into Thursday.  Other streams are likely to flood, and Little Falls Parkway remains closed between River Road and Massachusetts Avenue.

So far, Pepco has done a pretty good job.  The primary outages reported were mostly in North Bethesda and the River Road/Wilson Lane area.  Obviously, the risk of outages remains as trees can still fall.

Strosniders received a new shipment last night, including flashlights, lanterns, window covers, chainsaws, and the ever-elusive D batteries.

Scott Graham of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue service said that MCFRS responded to 324 calls Monday, and another 47 calls since midnight.

The top wind gust reported in Montgomery County was 76 MPH in Laytonsville.  By comparison, the top wind speed recorded anywhere in the U.S. last night was 120 MPH, in Mount Washington, NH.

Sandy was perhaps the best forecast storm in history.  It followed the Euro model track almost exactly.  It made landfall 5 miles south of Atlantic City.  It also produced the predicted snow west of us:  17" so far in Davis, WV!

West Virginia and Western Maryland highways experienced whiteout conditions last night.  Not surprising, given that Sandy was centered near Lancaster, PA at one point.  According to the National Hurricane Center, Sandy remains "next door" in Pennsylvania this morning.

Finally, we have a lot to be thankful for here.  In flooded Breezy Point/Rockaway Beach in NYC, over 50 structures burnt down when flooding prevented firefighters from reaching the area in great numbers.  One resident said on Twitter that he and 100 other families are now homeless.  At least part of the Rockaway Boardwalk was also destroyed.  Once home to a famous amusement park, Rockaway remains home to several of Robert Moses' significant infrastructure projects.  So it is definitely sad to hear of this tragedy in a great American community.

We're not done with Sandy yet, but the news from states north of us reminds us it could have been far worse.

Stay tuned here and on Twitter at @BethesdaRow for updates!