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D.C. region braces for blizzard as it continues to struggle with 2 inches from last night D.C. region braces for blizzard as it continues to struggle with 2 inches from last night
(about 5 hours later)
The Washington region braced on Thursday for what is expected to be a blizzard starting Friday, even as area residents struggled with road problems created by about 2 inches of snow overnight that led to messy, slow commutes. With an epic blizzard virtually certain to pummel the Washington area this weekend, Metro threw up a white flag Thursday, announcing it will shut down the nation’s second-busiest subway and all bus service Saturday and Sunday in a move that apparently is unprecedented in the rail system’s 40-year history.
Some people even spent the night in their vehicles and schools throughout the region were delayed or closed. Even President Obama’s motorcade slipped and slid in from Joint Base Andrews in Wednesday night’s snow. The shutdown decision came as Washington and its suburbs braced for what could be a record-breaking blizzard, predicted to start around midday Friday. The storm is expected to dump as much as two feet of snow on the region, and combined with strong winds and whiteout conditions is likely to make travel impossible. States of emergency were declared, the plows and salt trucks were ready to go, and power companies were bringing in outside help. Classes were canceled for the region’s school children.
A pedestrian in Beltsville was struck in the early morning hours and died after he was hit by a pickup with a snow plow on it. Metro has not taken such drastic action since October 2012, during Hurricane Sandy, when the transit system closed for about 36 hours.
The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning beginning at 3 p.m. Friday for the entire region. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Thursday declared states of emergency for Friday in anticipation of the big weekend storm. The magnitude of the storm and words being bandied about in advance of it — white-out conditions, historic blizzard and “capital in the cross hairs” — spoke to the dire hours that could be ahead.
In his biggest decision since becoming Metro’s top executive two months ago, General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said the agency decided to close even underground sections of Metrorail. He said officials worried that high winds during the blizzard will cause a large-scale power outage, which could trap train passengers in tunnels.
“We definitely understand the importance Metro plays in the entire region,” Wiedefeld said when asked about the region’s residents who depend on public transportation and will not be able to get to their jobs Saturday and Sunday.
“If we get out there and get them stranded, I think that’s the worst option,” he said.
As for whether the shutdown might tempt some people to choose the dangerous option of driving in the massive snowstorm, he said: “Across the board, you’ve seen all the jurisdictions recommend that people not travel. And I think you’ll continue to hear that.”
Suspending rail service also will allow Metro to shelter about 900 of its 1,100-plus rail cars in its idle tunnels. That will “give us a leg up” on resuming subway service Monday morning, Wiedefeld said, because hundreds of rail cars will not have to be shoveled out from a possible two feet of snow, which might not stop falling until late Sunday.
Bus service will be limited to major road corridors only Friday morning and afternoon and will stop running at 5 p.m., Metro said. The subway will begin shutting down at 11 p.m. Friday, four hours early, and will remain closed at least until Monday. Depending on conditions, officials said, it could even stay closed for the start of the work week.
On a crisp but near cloudless day, the fact that two feet of snow could begin falling Friday afternoon, whipped by gale-force winds right through the weekend, seemed almost a dubious prospect, despite all the ominous warnings.
Many people stayed home Thursday after a salt-shaker dose of snow caused traffic mayhem the previous night. They took to social media with quips and questions about their snow preparations. One woman asked, “I don’t get the bread thing. Why do we all need 17 loaves of bread when it snows?” Another person joked, “OK, I have the bread, milk and toilet paper. But now I can’t find the recipe.”
Beer, wine and liquor sales soared as a great many people seem to think being snowbound without a handy libation would be an unwelcome dose of purgatory.
[The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning beginning at 3 p.m. Friday][The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning beginning at 3 p.m. Friday]
At a news conference Thursday, Maryland’s governor urged residents to make early preparations. The best-guess forecast is that snow will begin around 3 p.m., so it’s reasonable to assume that hardly anyone will go to work Friday unless they have to. The federal government promised to make a late-night call on whether its doors would open Friday, though historically traffic patterns have suggested that Fridays must be a work-from-home day for many in the region’s largest workforce.
“Make sure you have food and supplies to last not just for the weekend but enough to last up to an entire week,” Hogan said. He said the state has 2,700 pieces of equipment that are ready and 365,000 tons of salt to be deployed. Airlines already were curtailing flights in and out of the region’s three major airports. When heavy snow hits, they generally fly planes that otherwise would sit overnight at local airports well clear of the area so they can resume service more quickly once the storm passes.
“It’s important to use common sense,” Hogan said. “If you don’t have to drive, don’t drive.” American Airlines, the world’s largest carrier, canceled all Saturday flights fron the region’s airports and Philadelphia and said it hoped to resume operation by noon Sunday.
He also warned that residents should have patience, as crews work to clear roads. Amtrak said it would implement a modified schedule in the Northeast corridor, encouraging passengers with reservations to keep a close eye on conditions and check Amtrak.com or mobile for the status of their train.
“It could be days or even a week to dig out,” he said. “Be prepared and be patient.” D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) declared states of emergency for Friday in anticipation of the storm.
In the District, Bowser apologized at a news conference for the city’s response to Wednesday night’s snow and the poor road conditions. [The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning beginning at 3 p.m. Friday]
“We are very sorry for the inadequate response,” she said. “We did not provide adequate resources at a time when it could have made a difference with the commute.” Bowser said the city’s snow emergency plan — and the parking restrictions that come with it — were in place in advance of the bad weather.
Bowser also said the city was under a snow emergency plan in advance of the Friday storm. Schools and public libraries in the District will be closed Friday. “Don’t take this storm for granted. This is 36 hours of a major storm,” said D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier.
Arlington officials also apologized for their response to Wednesday’s snow, saying the snowfall and the condition of roads caught them by surprise. Branco Vlacich, the Virginia Department of Transportation’s engineer for Northern Virginia, said “Our crews are preparing for heavy accumulation, limited visibility and severe road conditions.”
In Fairfax County, Sharon Bulova who is the chairwoman of the board of supervisors, said Thursday residents should be prepared with the big storm coming to “be snowed in for a while.” Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne said, “Driving conditions during the storm are expected to be hazardous and motorists are urged to stay off the roads until the storm passes.”
“In the D.C., metropolitan Washington area, we don’t really do snow and ice very well, which might be an understatement,,” she said. McAuliffe encouraged people to “take the threat of this storm seriously.”
If snow hits the totals that forecasters predict, Taran Hutchinson of the Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination said, “the recovery is going to last until the early part of next week.”
[Forget ISIS. The most powerful city on earth can’t handle a dusting of snow][Forget ISIS. The most powerful city on earth can’t handle a dusting of snow]
Road crews scrambled to get trucks out throughout Thursday morning to treat roadways that still had icy patches. Dozens of fender benders were reported. Virginia State Police said they were on the scene early Thursday morning of 33 accidents around the state, including 24 in Northern Virginia. Said Maryland’s Gov. Hogan, “It could be days or even a week to dig out. Be prepared and be patient.”
In Maryland, the Capital Beltway remained congested throughout the morning in spots, particularly in Prince George’s County near the Woodrow Wilson bridge where accidents impeded traffic and tractor trailers tried all night to get up slight inclines in the roadway. Hogan said the state had readied 2,700 pieces of snow removal equipment and had 365,000 tons of salt on hand.
“Oh my God,” said a sergeant at the College Park barracks of the Maryland State Police, in response to how conditions were on the roadways. The unit was reporting at least six calls an hour for accidents, with another four or five callers on hold. “Make sure you have food and supplies to last not just for the weekend but enough to last up to an entire week,” Hogan said.
“And that’s the ones we know about,” the sergeant said. Most of the accidents were fender benders. But, truth be told, after several days of increasingly ominous warnings, most everyone was stocked up on the essentials by Thursday. Anyone who set foot in a supermarket or hardware store during the week can attest to that.
In Montgomery County, officials lifted a snow emergency warning at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. With millions of people snowbound in well stocked homes, their number one priority likely will be that the lights stay on.
Plenty of commuters and highway officials were Monday morning quarterbacking about Wednesday’s snowfall and how well prepared — or not prepared — agencies were. The region’s three big power companies said they were preparing to deal with the snow and wind.
The Maryland State Highway Administration said it was the “unfortunate timing,” of a clipper system that arrived earlier than expected that stalled not only commuters but road crews as well. “Our trucks are fueled and ready to roll, crews are prepped and ready to engage when the first power outage occurs,” said David Botkins, spokesman for Dominion Virginia Power. “The governor’s state of emergency declaration today will expedite travel on roadways across Virginia for our first responders.”
SHA spokesman Charlie Gischlar said the agency was prepared and had planned to dispatch salt-loaded trucks before the rush hour began to treat roadways. But as the snow started to fall, the roads snarled and created a “cascading domino effect,” that locked trucks in the snail’s pace procession on state roads, he said. Botkins said the utility was sending additional crews to the areas expected to be most affected and the company’s three regional storm response centers were being activated.
“It’s not like we missed it,” Gischlar said. “The key piece was timing.” Pepco said it had more than 550 people ready in the District and Maryland to help deal with power outages.
Even with the mess on roadways Thursday morning, forecasters and road crews were looking ahead to what is expected to be one of the region’s biggest snow storms in years. The Capital Weather Gang is currently expecting the region to get at least 12 inches of snow starting Friday and into Saturday. “Our crews are prepared for this weather event and will work safely and diligently if there are any interruptions in power because of this storm,” Pepco President Donna Cooper said at a news conference where Bowser discussed the city’s snow plan.
Baltimore Gas and Electric said it had called up about 900 support contractors to augment its 3,200 staff workers.
The fear of being housebound without the ability to toast the falling snow sent droves of people to the liquor store Thursday, and they are sure to be followed there by last-minute shoppers before the first flakes fall Friday.
At Circle Wine & Spirits in Chevy Chase, D.C., sales have been brisk for the last few days.
General manager David Kim said sales Thursday had tripled from an average week day. But he said after the storm, “we will be dead” because people buy too much.
“People think about the common goods they need -- eggs, milk, beer and wine,” said Ben Jardot, a local wine representative.
“It is not even an afterthought,” he said. “It’s like selling toilet paper.”
[ Models continue to show massive snowstorm starting midday Friday ][ Models continue to show massive snowstorm starting midday Friday ]
“They’ll do what they can to clear things up today and then we all really have to start focusing on tomorrow,” said Taran Hutchinson, a spokesman for MATOC — the Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination. “This is going to be a pretty challenging event.”
If snow totals hit what forecasters predict, Hutchinson said, “the recovery is going to last until the early part of next week.”
Officials at a news conference advised that based on weather forecasts, area residents should take precautions and stay off area roadways.
“Don’t take this storm for granted. This is 36 hours of a major storm,” said D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier.
In preparation for the weekend’s expected snowfall, Pepco said at the mayor’s press conference that they had more than 550 people ready in the D.C. region to help deal with power outages that are expected. A top Pepco official said crews would work 24 hours a day “every single day to get customers restored.”
Metro’s chief said he expects to run trains on a normal schedule but noted bus routes may change, depending on the weather conditions and the MetroAccess service for disabled riders would have abbreviated hours.
On Thursday morning, commuters shared tales of their Wednesday night commutes on social media of what are usually 15- to 30-minute drives turning into four hours or more.
One driver said her six-mile commute from K Street in downtown Washington to Arlington took over two hours as cars slipped on the roadways. Another driver reported a normally 20-minute drive from Edgewater to West Hyattsville took an hour and a half. Some drivers simply abandoned their cars on side roads.
Allison Redisch of Northwest Washington said she and roughly two dozen other passengers spent seven and a half hours stuck on a Metro bus Wednesday night as it crept along the Beltway and side roads trying to get from Bethesda to Silver Spring.
“I am not even exaggerating,” she said in a message on Facebook. “That was awful.”
She retold the commute Thursday morning, saying a few people had to get off and relieve themselves on the side of the road, then get back on the bus. She ate a cookie and some corn muffins she had in her bag.
[ An inch of snow, icy roads, unleash 9 hours of traffic chaos across D.C. region ][ An inch of snow, icy roads, unleash 9 hours of traffic chaos across D.C. region ]
Metro and local bus services said their normal routes were altered or delayed because of road conditions. Only as the snow melted did some traffic jams ease. Aaron Davis, Dana Hedgpeth, Arelis Hernandez, Michael Laris, Luz Lazo, Peter Hermann, Antonio Olivo, Ovetta Wiggins, Patricia Sullivan and Julie Zauzmer contributed to this report.
Aaron Davis, Arelis Hernandez, Michael Laris, Luz Lazo, Peter Hermann, Antonio Olivo, Patricia Sullivan and Julie Zauzmer contributed to this report.