Montgomery County leaders review storm response after prolonged snow and data failures

Montgomery County officials gave the County Council a detailed briefing on Feb. 3 about the response to the late‑January/early‑February 2026 winter storm, describing large operational efforts and significant technology and communication failures.

Rich Maddalino, the county's chief administrative officer, opened the briefing by thanking employees and contractors and promising an after‑action report. "We will be doing an after action report as we always do about this storm," Maddalino said, adding an apology "to all of our residents who felt let down, misinformed, by what happened during the storm."

Matt Mazurko, an emergency management specialist and the briefing's lead meteorologist, said the event combined cold air, lift and moisture in a pattern that produced a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain. He summarized measured precipitation as "about 6 to 10 inches of snow across the county" in mixed form and said that if the event had been all snow it would have been far more extreme regionally.

Department of Transportation staff described an extended operation that deployed about 500 pieces of road equipment, 126 sidewalk units, roughly 220 plow routes and about 600 personnel (roughly half county staff and half contractors). DOT said crews cleared approximately 100 miles of sidewalks…