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After last weekend's brush with snow and ice, representatives of garrison organizations, who plan for and respond to inclement weather, met Monday to fine tune Fort Meade's Adverse Weather Plan.

The meeting followed a National Weather Service freezing rain advisory from Sunday afternoon to Monday morning that forecasted the possibility of up to a tenth of an inch of ice accumulation.

It also showed the garrison's preparations for possible inclement winter weather begins well ahead of the first snowfall.

"The intent of our severe or hazardous weather policy is to ensure efficient operations and the safety of Fort Meade service members, civilian employees, families and people who plan to visit the installation," Garrison Commander Col. Edward C. Rothstein said.

According to Doug Wise, chief of Plans and Operations for the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security, the garrison will make an early decision if there is a major storm coming and weather forecasters are sure of it in the 80 to 100 percent range. It also takes into consideration information from the Anne Arundel County Public Schools, county road crews, the National Capital Region and the National Security Agency, which is the largest employer on Fort Meade.

The Emergency Operations Center coordinates with Melwood, a base operations contractor responsible for grounds maintenance and snow removal, among other services for the Directorate of Public Works.

Installation roads are prioritized into three categories: primary, secondary and tertiary. Reece, Mapes and Rockenbach roads and Cooper Avenue are designated as primary roads to be pre-treated and cleared. Cooper was upgraded when the Defense Information Systems Agency relocated to the post.

Vehicles should be removed from the roads to expedite snow removal. Picerne Military Housing clears the roads in its residential areas.

Activities offered by the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation follow the installation's policy. Child, Youth and School Services follow policies specific to its services.

In the event of a closure or reduced options, all Child Development Centers, the School-Age Care Center and Youth Center are closed. However, Family Child Care is available to those children whose parent is designated adverse-weather, mission-essential personnel.

If the garrison announces a delay for a specific time, only children of mission-essential personnel will be serviced before the designated opening. Children of other personnel may be accepted 30 minutes prior to the reporting time or earlier if staffing allows.

For more information, visit www.ftmeade.army.mil/weatherpolicy.html.

Several methods are used to announce changes to the post operating status.

The EOC announces changes on its adverse weather hotline, 301-677-MEAD (301-677-6323). The hotline was updated with a normal operations message around 4:30 a.m. Monday, said Wise.

Just as important as determining whether to close the post or delay operations is the communication process to announce the decision.

"Our goal is to quickly make an announcement using appropriate communications channels once a decision has been made to delay, cancel activities or close the installation," Rothstein said.

The Fort Meade Public Affairs Office's weather announcements begin by sharing information from the U.S. National Weather Service. PAO announces a change to the operating status as soon as it is notified. The announcement is typically made between 4:30 and 5 a.m. If no announcement is made, employees should assume the garrison is operating normally.

"My first call after receiving the notification from our Emergency Operations Center is to our emerging media manger who will post the information on all of our online assets," Garrison Public Affairs Officer Chad Jones said. "My second call is to my media relations specialist, who calls the local news outlets."

Changes are announced on local media including the NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX affiliates in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., in addition to several key radio stations.

Fort Meade's social media websites have been a popular way to learn about changes to the garrison's status since back-to-back winter storms in 2010, which became known as "Snowmageddon, closed the garrison for several days, said Jones.

"The number of people who follow our social media significantly increase each time we have a winter storm," he said.

As of Tuesday morning, 8,501 users followed Fort Meade's Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ftmeade, and 1,429 users followed Fort Meade's Twitter feed, www.twitter.com/ftmeademd.

The Public Affairs Office has released several new ways to learn about the garrison's operating status. Earlier this month, the Fort Meade homepage, www.ftmeade.army.mil, was redesigned to emphasize frequently requested information such as the operating status. The website received 5,333 visits from Sunday to Monday, which is well above the average. PAO can update the website from anywhere with an Internet connection.

"In the past, we've had to rely solely on our social media to announce changes," Jones said. "We don't have that issue anymore. In fact, we're expanding beyond traditional desktops to reach more people."

Smartphone users can access an enhanced version of the Fort Meade website without additional software by visiting it as they would on a traditional computer.

PAO also offers text alerts through Twitter. Users can subscribe by sending the text message "follow ftmeadealert" from their cell phone to 40404 without the quotation marks. 40404 is a short code that allows anyone to receive the text on their cell phone without signing up for Twitter.

Standard text messaging rates apply according to a user's cell phone contract.

There was some confusion Monday after the U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced the delayed opening of federal agencies, said Wise.

But OPM weather guidance applies to all executive agencies with offices inside Interstate 495, the Washington Capital Beltway.

"We look at [OPM] and consider [it], but we're a little north of that. We're following the weather specifically in our area," Wise said. "Every weather situation is a little different."

While some of the more than 95 tenant units decide to follow the garrison's status, the decision to close or delay operations only officially affects the garrison. Personnel who are assigned to a tenant unit should discuss their unit's procedures with their supervisor.

"I always stress that everyone should always consider personal safety as a first priority, and exercise good judgment and caution with regard to severely changing weather," Rothstein said.