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Major winter storm forces closures, cancellations in much of D.C. region Major winter storm forces closures, cancellations in much of D.C. region
(34 minutes later)
Finally — a regionwide wallop. A nasty combination of snow, sleet and punishing wind descended on Washington Thursday to find that the region had shut down for the day.
Snow blanketed Washington and its suburbs Wednesday night and Thursday morning, shuttering local schools, government offices and airports and leaving roadways treacherous for the few who dared to venture onto them. After a winter of smaller stuff, it was — finally — a regionwide wallop. And the region was bracing for another blow later in the day, with one to four inches of additional snow forecast.
The snow that fellow overnight and into Thursday morning blanketed Washington, shuttering local schools, government offices and airports and leaving highways treacherous for the few who dared to venture onto them.
Warned by reports of how the same storm brought life to a standstill Wednesday in several Southern states, the bad weather arrived here overnight to find a region resigned to the same fate.
The miserable mix was forecast to continue in some places through the day, according to The Washington Post’s
Capital Weather Gang
, with clearing expected for Valentine’s Day, followed by a chance of light snow Friday night and Saturday.
Power outages — that bane of bad weather — were surprisingly absent by midday Wednesday, but utility companies stood ready for problems if ice and freezing rain topped the heavy snow to bring down their lines.
While there were no major road accidents with fewer drivers out on the highways, there was one reported fatality related to the weather.
A Virginia Department of Transportation contract worker was killed while clearing snow on Belmont Ridge Road in Ashburn, state police said. The man had pulled his truck onto the shoulder of the roadway shortly before 6 a.m. and was standing near the vehicle’s rear spreader when he was struck by a VDOT dump truck, police said.
Metro shut down its service on 250 bus routes throughout the area early Thursday because officials were worried about road conditions. Officials said they could not estimate when the bus routes would resume until more streets in the area were plowed.
In a region given to bashing weather forecasters for getting it wrong, there was little for the cynics to complain about this time around.
“I never really believed it,” James Beaner, 40, said of the forecast. “I didn’t think it was going to stop anyone from doing anything.”
He commuted from St. Mary’s County to downtown Washington, where he works as a manager at a pizza restaurant.
“I actually made it in good time today,” Beaner said as he waited for a train at the Branch Avenue Metro station.
Some of his family and friends stayed home from their jobs, and he said some of them gave him a hard time about going in to work. He had a choice, but some others did not.
Joel Ramos, 33, was headed for a Glover Park restaurant, where he prepares food.
“It’s nice for the people who don’t have to work, but they are the people who will need to eat out today, and we have to open the restaurant,” said Ramos, who shivered from the cold outside the Friendship Heights Metro Station.
“There is no choice,” he said. “We need to make it to work. We have to be responsible.”
The Tastee Diner in Bethesda maintained its 44-year tradition of staying open 24-7, except for Christmas Day.
“Snowmageddon, you name it, we’ve been here,” said manager Beth Cox.
Owner Gene Wilkes, who lives in Dickerson, near Sugar Loaf Mountain, had to push through three-foot snow drifts on country roads that hadn’t seen plows yet. Another employee with a four-wheel drive vehicle picked up other workers.
“We’ve had an action plan since Tuesday night — backup people, people on call, having people stay close by, and people close by working double shifts,” Cox said.
“The phone is ringing off the hook with people asking ‘Are you open? Are you open?’ ” Cox said. “There are people who have to be out in this weather — firefighters, police officers, anyone who needs to work 24 hours — and they need a place to eat, and they know we’re always here.”
Snow totals varied considerably, but most residents reported significantly more of the white stuff — between eight and 15 inches — than they had seen since the Snowmageddon winter four years ago. The National Weather Service reported 11 inches of snow in Rockville and 12 in Kensington as of 6 a.m. There were about six inches of snow at Ronald Reagan National Airport, 9.5 inches in Arlington, 11 inches in Herndon, 14 inches at Fairfax Station and 12.5 inches in Rockville.Snow totals varied considerably, but most residents reported significantly more of the white stuff — between eight and 15 inches — than they had seen since the Snowmageddon winter four years ago. The National Weather Service reported 11 inches of snow in Rockville and 12 in Kensington as of 6 a.m. There were about six inches of snow at Ronald Reagan National Airport, 9.5 inches in Arlington, 11 inches in Herndon, 14 inches at Fairfax Station and 12.5 inches in Rockville.
Precipitation had slowed down and, in some areas, turned to sleet and freezing rain by mid-morning, but The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang said more snow was possible late Thursday afternoon and evening. Jane Beard, 58, is a weather geek. She reads forecasting models and charts, and she is a fan of Big Weather.
[Latest Weather Gang updates.] So on Thursday, outside her home in the Colesville area of Silver Spring, Beard was delighted by the measurement she took of the snowfall: 13 inches.
The storm system swept into the Washington area from the Deep South, where it has had a crippling effect. More than 4,000 flights were canceled across the country; many of them would have passed through Atlanta. At least 13 deaths were reported in the South, and hundreds of thousands of homes were without power. Cities north of Washington, from Philadelphia to New York to Boston, were also seeing significant snow, with totals of eight inches or more expected. Still, there was a ways to go. It was only half of what she had recorded as the record snowfall in her yard: 26 inches, during Snowmageddon.
In Loudoun County, a Virginia Department of Transportation contract worker was killed while clearing snow on Belmont Ridge Road in Ashburn, state police said. The man had pulled his truck onto the shoulder of the roadway shortly before 6 a.m. and was standing near the vehicle’s rear spreader when he was struck by a VDOT dump truck, police said. “If it were going to snow, we might as well have something to talk about,” said Beard, who works as a business consultant.
Three accidents involving tractor-trailers were reported on the Capital Beltway in the early morning. There were no serious injuries, officials said, and because many people seemed to be heeding warnings to stay off roads, there were no major backups as a result of the disabled or overturned vehicles. Metro officials said rail ridership during its normally bustling morning rush hour was “anemic” Thursday, with only 6 percent of the riders on trains compared to the same time period last Thursday.
Authorities said they also responded to a number of incidents on major and secondary roads where cars slid off the road or became stuck. Renbin Yang, 31, ventured out to the College Park-U. of Md. Metro station, forced to take the train to his job at the National Institutes of Health rather than the bus, which was canceled. Originally from China, Yang estimated that the overnight accumulation was the most snow he has ever seen.
Police in Prince George’s County helped rescue a horse that became stranded in a Springdale barn because of heavy snow. The horse became so tired trying to free itself, it collapsed. The animal was being treated by a veterinarian. “When I walked here, I thought, ‘Can I make it to the station?’ ” Yang said with a laugh as he waited for a train. “That is one of the advantages of the trains over the buses. They’re less influenced by the weather, more reliable.”
[See the latest storm updates.] J.E. McNeil, 62, a contract attorney headed to K and 14th streets, walked through small mountains of snow from her Garrison Street NW home to the Friendship Heights Metro five long blocks away.
The foot or more that fell in many parts of the Washington area surprised some residents, who had become used to warnings of bad weather that — often this winter — did not pan out. “I am tired,” she whispered, stopping in the middle of Harrison Street NW, where there was still no sign of snow plows. The sidewalks weren’t much better. She kept going, bundled up in a green coat, a black hat on, and carrying a backpack with extra food, as well as an extra book and a purse. She was prepared, she said, in case she is stranded downtown after work.
“Yeah, THIS feels like a real snow,” said Keith French, as he headed from his home in Takoma Park to his job as a technician at Atlantic Machinery in Silver Spring. “There’s been more bad days than this,” she said recalling Snowmageddon and snow walls as high as her waist. “But don’t get me wrong, this is a pain in the neck.”
James Beaner, a manager at a Washington pizza restaurant, said he was “shocked” that as much snow fell as was forecast, for what seemed like the first time all winter. And he expressed surprise that the entire region seemed to have come to a standstill McNeil had appointments that couldn’t miss. And an hourly pay, too, she said.
“I never really believed it,” said Beaner, who needed more time than usual to drive from his home in St. Mary’s County to the Branch Avenue Metro station, where he was waiting for a train. “I didn’t think it was going to stop anyone from doing anything.” “Thank you, Metro!” She said. “For a lot of people it is so important to get to work and Metro and their workers really make it happen.”
Metro shut down 250 bus routes throughout the area, and officials said they won’t know when bus service will resume until more streets in the area are plowed. All runways were closed at Ronald Reagan National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport. More than 300 flights were canceled at Reagan, along with 201 at Dulles and 123 at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, according to FlightAware, a Houston-based flight tracking company.
The rail system’s normally bustling ridership was “anemic” during the morning commute, with only 6 percent as many riders as last Thursday. But trains continued to come every six to 10 minutes, and those passengers who did hop on for the most part reported smooth commutes. The terminal at Dulles was deserted. Clearly, travelers had heeded advice to check with their airlines before making what would have been a long, snowy and ultimately fruitless trek to the airport.
All runways were closed at Reagan National and Washington Dulles International airport, with hundreds of flights canceled. VRE shut down. Amtrak was running reduced service in the Northeast. Some international flights already en route were diverted to other airports. A United flight from Dubai was sent to Chicago; an Emirates flight also from Dubai was directed to Pittsburgh.
But not everything was shut down or canceled. In Annapolis, one Maryland Senate committee on judicial proceedings said it planned to hold a hearing Thursday afternoon and stream the event online. Montgomery County highway officials said they hoped to have 900 lane-miles on main roads passable by late afternoon. And officials at National Airport said their runways were clear, they were plowing the taxiways, and they hoped to take advantage of the relatively lighter snowfall at the airport and resume operations sometime after noon. With his flight home to Nashville canceled, Rich Hayes left his hotel in Mount Vernon on what should have been an easy errand: getting a cup of coffee.
Those who had to make it to their jobs struggled if they did not live and work near a Metro line or have the luxury of four-wheel drive. Eight blocks later, he found one.
Joel Ramos, 33, tried to catch a bus from his Fort Totten apartment, but found out when he got to the stop that Metro had canceled its service. So he walked to a rail station to catch a train that would get him within three miles of the restaurant where he works in Glover Park. The 45-year-old trudged through snow and slush, pulling a blue suitcase, from 8th Street, near the Convention Center, to 16th and K streets NW. There he found the first open Starbucks — actually, nearly the first open anything — in blocks. It was past 9 a.m.
He and a co-worker called their boss and asked for a ride from the station so they wouldn’t have to walk the whole way. Missing work wasn’t an option, he said. “There is no choice. We need to make it to work. We have to be responsible.” “It was pretty much a no mans land,” said Hayes, who was at least walking toward his nonprofit’s office near the Farragut West Metro station. “I foolishly skipped the hotel breakfast. I thought this would be easy.”
Contract lawyer J.E. McNeil, 62, also tried to get to her office at 14th and K streets NW. She walked from her Garrison Street NW home to the Friendship Heights Metro, five long and snowy blocks away. The normal five-minute walk turned into 20 minutes. But McNeil had appointments she couldn’t miss. More than a foot of snow blanketed the quiet village of Middleburg in Loudoun County, where the Common Grounds coffee shop, the post office and the Safeway were the only businesses open. By 9:30 a.m., John Deere tractors worked to clear Route 50, which cuts through the center of town, as snow continued to fall in flakes the size of jelly beans.
“I am tired,” she said when she arrived at the Metro stop. Then “Thank you, Metro!” as she waited seven minutes for a train. “For a lot of people, it is so important to get to work, and Metro and their workers really make it happen,” McNeil said of the transit agency. Since Common Grounds opened at 6 a.m., a total of 13 customers had come in for the drip-brewed coffee and lattes, said owner Cyndi Ellis.
More than 300 flights were canceled at Reagan, along with 123 at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, according to FlightAware, a Houston-based flight tracking company. At Dulles, 201 flights were canceled. “We thought if guys are out plowing, at least we’d be open to get them food or a hot drink if they need it,” said Common Grounds owner Cyndi Ellis. “It’s a lot of snow. The worst I’ve seen in years. But I can sit here all day. It’s warm.”
The few businesses that were open Thursday found that they were quickly becoming popular. After a tricky walk over unshoveled sidewalks in a quest for the milk, orange juice and eggs she thought her husband had bought the night before, Veronica Leres arrived at the Tacoma Park grocery store only to find it dark.
“The phone is ringing off the hook with people asking, ‘Are you open? Are you open?’ ” said Beth Cox, manager of the Tastee Diner in Bethesda, which is open 24 hours a day and had a plan in place since Tuesday night to get workers into the restaurant. “Oh no,” said Lares, pushing futilely on the locked doors of the Tacoma Park Silver Spring Food Coop. “I’ll have to go to the 7-Eleven. We used to be ready for snow, but it hasn’t been so snowy lately. I think we forgot what it’s like.”
“There are people who have to be out in this weather — firefighters, police officers, anyone who needs to work 24 hours — and they need a place to eat,” Cox said. “And they know we’re always here.” One urgent task, come snow, sleet, or rain: dogs must be walked.
Michael Rosenwald, Michael Ruane, T. Rees Shapiro, Donna St. George, Jenna Johnson, Bill Turque, Justin Jouvenal, Katherine Shaver, Caitlin Gibson, Steve Hendrix, Patrick Svitek, Dan Morse, Emma Brown, Patricia Sullivan, Martin Weil, Susan Svrluga, Antonio Olivo, John Kelly, Michael A. Chandler, Lynh Bui, Luz Lazo, Lori Aratani, Mike DeBonis, Mary Pat Flaherty, Mark Berman, Donna St. George, Laura Vozzella, John Wagner, Kathy Orton, Lisa Bolton, Theresa Vargas, Paul Duggan, Ovetta Wiggins and Clarence Williams contributed to this report. Robert Walters, 48, trudged through the combination of what seemed like all three forms of precipitation with his black and white border collie, Samantha, on Nebraska Avenue, in Northwest Washington.
Except for Samantha, “I’d be drinking coffee and watching TV right now,” he said, as the excited dog strained at the leash. “Dogs must be walked.”
Walters, who is self employed, found the storm “overdue,” he said. “It’s the winter.” He said it was Samantha’s first real snow storm. The dog lunged away as he spoke. “Until she finds a place where she can go, this could be an all-day ad­ven­ture.”
As the snow switched over to rain and the wind picked up, Julie Kirtz, 54, strode down the middle of deserted McKinley Street NW.
“It’s gorgeous,” she said. “I love it, absolutely love it. I grew up in California, moved to Alaska.”
“I have to go back and sit in front of my computer all day, so it’s time to get out and enjoy it,” she said.
She said she was not surprised at the amount of snow that had fallen. “I figured it was going to be a lot. My kids are home. We’re good.”
Julie Zauzmer., Michael E. Ruane. T. Rees Shapiro, Michael Rosenwald, Katherine Shaver, Caitlin Gibson, Steve Hendrix, Patrick Svitek, Emma Brown, Patricia Sullivan, Martin Weil, Susan Svrluga, Antonio Olivo, Michael A. Chandler, Lynh Bui, Luz Lazo, Lori Aratani, Mike DeBonis, Mark Berman, Donna St. George, Laura Vozzella, John Wagner, Ovetta Wiggins and Clarence Williams contributed to this report.
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