Heavy snow shuts D.C. offices, schools
WASHINGTON — A winter storm packing heavy snow blew into the nation’s capital Monday, closing government offices and schools and grounding the president’s helicopter as 6 to 11 inches of snow ringed the area around Washington.
“It was balmy and foggy yesterday and then 6 inches of snow this morning, not even 12 hours later. That’s not something I’ve seen before,” said Shawn Devroude, 52, a federal worker who braved the blizzardlike conditions in the nation’s capital to play with his 9year-old border collie, MoJo, at the Naval Memorial.
The heavy snowfall, coupled with closings caused by the surge in coronavirus cases, forced much of Washington to shut down. Four of the Smithsonian museums had already closed in late December because of a COVID-19 outbreak, and the National Zoo announced Monday that it would close for the day because of the snow.
Strong wind gusts and snow falling at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour made travel treacherous. In Virginia, state police responded to more than 500 traffic accidents, including a crash involving six tractor-trailers. State police said no injuries were reported in the crash.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a snow emergency and advised residents to stay home.
“Stay off the roads and allow our crews to work,” she said.
President Joe Biden made a slow return to Washington after spending about a week in Delaware, though he could have departed Sunday to avoid the worst of the weather.
The snow grounded Biden’s helicopter, so a motorcade took him to the White House from Joint Base Andrews in suburban Maryland, a slow slog that took nearly an hour. The White House press briefing was canceled, although Biden’s other public events were still on.
More than half the flights were delayed or canceled Monday at Washington’s three major airports, according to FlightAware.com’s misery map. A quarter of the flights at New York’s three major airports were delayed or canceled as well.
Andrea Klein, 23, a graduate student at Georgetown University, welcomed the snow after spending the past two weeks in quarantine when one of her roommates tested positive for COVID-19.
“Things have been feeling a bit stressful in the world lately, so to walk around in the snow with friends is a nice return to normalcy,” she said while strolling around the National Mall taking pictures.
Many COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites were closed in Washington, Virginia and Maryland because of the weather. Multiple school districts in the region also said they would be closed, delayed or have virtual learning Monday.
Karla Rivas, originally from Miami but now living in Baltimore, experienced her first-ever winter storm. “I love it,” she said. “I feel like it’s great to have the seasons.”