WASHINGTON — D.C.-area residents are looking at a potentially rainy, snowed-in Tuesday after a Monday spent digging out from a massive blizzard that buried much of the region and left more than 30 inches of snow in some parts of the D.C. area.
Overnight, temperatures will drop and there could be some refreezing potential, but not a lot, says Storm Team 4 Meteorologist Doug Kammerer. On Tuesday, temperatures will rise into the lower to mid 40s with a few rain showers for the second half of the evening. The region is expected to dry out by Wednesday morning.
Federal offices in the D.C. region will be closed on Tuesday. All local school systems have announced closings for Tuesday and some have closed for Wednesday as well. Read the full list here.
While it may be tempting to get behind the wheel as major roads’ conditions improve, officials want people to refrain from driving so road crews can do their work.
Commuting options saw shifts on Monday. All Metro lines, except the Silver Line, will reopen at 5 a.m. Tuesday, but taxi service in D.C. will still cost you more. Read more here.
Quick Links
Closings and Delays
- Federal offices in the D.C. region will be closed on Tuesday, Jan. 26. Emergency and telework-ready employees must follow their agency’s policies. .
- All local public schools are closed Tuesday. Some have closed for Wednesday, too.
- The Smithsonian D.C. museums, as well as the National Zoo, are closed.
- The National Mall and Memorial Parks are closed.
Find a full list of closings and delays here.
Forecast
It will not be nearly as cold tonight, and areas near the District may stay above freezing. A few light showers are possible Tuesday afternoon, but the bigger story will be areas of dense fog that will develop. Visibility may fall to near zero Tuesday afternoon and evening.
A weak disturbance could bring some light snow or flurries to our southern suburbs Wednesday, but with little or no accumulation, this won’t be a big issue. We will enjoy quiet weather Thursday and Friday with highs in the upper 30s. The weekend looks good; dry weather with highs in the mid to upper 40s.
For the full forecast, visit WTOP’s Weather page.
Travel/Commuting
You are urged to stay off the roads so crews can attempt to get them cleared and treated. Sidewalks remain impassible and cars are still buried to their roofs. After the melting comes re-freezing at night, however, so early-morning roads could easily be slick.
Jennifer McCord, a spokeswoman with the Virginia Department of Transportation, says the big danger right now is varying road conditions: Some roads, and sections of roads, are very clear, but some have black ice. “Please use extreme caution – really slow down,” she said.
Another factor to watch for on the roads: Highway and road lanes can just disappear, both from encroaching snow piles and the crews working to push them back.
Interstate 66, for example, is narrowed because there’s simply no place left to put snow. “It’s an issue of pushing the snow farther down the road and finding someplace to place it,” McCord says.
She adds that “subdivisions are a major focus” of VDOT crews’ work as of early Monday morning, but that there are 15,000 subdivision streets in Northern Virginia to get to. “We thank you so much for being patient with us.”
Charlie Gischlar, a spokesman with the Maryland State Highway Administration, agrees that road conditions can vary, adding that “looks can be deceiving.”
A lot of road areas are bare, he says, but lanes are narrowing, sometimes quickly, due to snow piles, and in some cases your view while merging onto a highway could be impeded.
It’s important to watch for pedestrians in roadways, as many sidewalks are impassible, Gischlar says, and keep an eye out for road crews, who are “working feverishly” in traffic.
“Look in the distance and plan ahead,” Gischlar says – you could come up on a crew very quickly.
WTOP reporter Nick Iannelli, in Montgomery County Monday morning, says that while some residential streets are passable, some haven’t been touched.
Meanwhile, many streets are down to one lane because of the piles of plowed snow. He calls Georgetown and much of D.C. “just a mess,” with untreated side streets and frozen-over sidewalks. Much of Interstate 66 is “drivable,” he says, though going the posted limit is still not a good idea.
Crews started tackling secondary and residential streets in the District on Sunday, but D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tells WTOP that the presence of lots of drivers on the road may slow down clearing.
“We are looking forward to another big cleanup day [Monday]. We continue to ask people to stay off the road so our plows can have access to the streets,” Bowser said.
At least 30 people have died around the country as a result of the mammoth snowstorm, including an 82-year-old man in D.C.
In Virginia, VDOT provides a snow plow tracker system to give updates on road conditions. Some counties in Maryland offer similar websites, and in the District, the Snow Response Reporting System is a way to look at live road conditions.
Learn more about tracking snow plow progress.
TRANSIT
All Metrorail lines — except the Silver Line — will reopen Tuesday at 5 a.m.
It will take extra efforts to get the Silver Line reopened.
Metrorail will close at 11 p.m. Monday.
Metrobus is even more limited. From noon to 5 p.m., buses will run what Metro spokesman Dan Stessel calls “lifeline service” on 22 of the most important corridors in the region. He encourages riders to sign up for Metro alerts so they can be texted when their buses are running again.
- The gates at Metro garages will remain open through 9:30 a.m. Tuesday free of charge.
- VRE says it will not offer service on Monday. A decision about Tuesday is expected Monday night.
- MARC service has been canceled for Monday. Please note that while some Amtrak trains may be operating, they will not accept MARC tickets.
- MTA says there will be no Commuter Bus service on Monday, except for Route 201 (Gaithersburg-BWI). The service will run on a weekend schedule — the first departures from both endpoints will be at 9 a.m. MTA says eastbound runs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 will not operate.
- Amtrak says it will operate on a modified schedule in the Northeast. Several other Amtrak services are canceled or truncated.
- Find out more about the plans of area transit agencies.
AIRPORTS
Flights are slowly starting at the D.C.-area airports. Read more about what the airlines are experiencing and what you should know before getting to the airport here.
Check with your airline before heading to the airport.
OTHER
- The D.C. Taxicab Commission‘s Snow Emergency Fare had expired at 9:30 a.m. Monday, but has since been re-implemented until further notice.
- car2go service has been suspended in D.C. and Arlington until further notice. In addition, drivers get 60 minutes of free drive time for each car2go they help dig out. To receive your drive time, send before and after photos of the car along with its license plate to memberservicesNA@car2go.com.
- Capital Bikeshare is closed Monday.
- There was limited mail delivery on Monday. Service will return to normal on Tuesday and improve as the week continues.
Check out the latest with traffic on WTOP’s traffic blog.
Get the latest traffic updates on the WTOP traffic page, by following @WTOPTraffic on Twitter and by listening to 103.5 FM on-air or online. You can also follow along with the latest traffic conditions, in our live blog.
Snow Totals
While the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia received more than 40 inches of snow and parts of Loudoun County got up to 36 inches, BWI had it highest snowfall ever at 29.2 inches.
Dulles International Airport had its second-highest total at 29.3 inches.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport had its fourth-biggest snowfall at 17.8 inches.
See all of the totals on the National Weather Service page.
Read more about the records that were set.
Power Outages
Find phone numbers and links to report outages over the phone or online, or text the word POWER to 91035 and WTOP will text the number back to you.
The Bright Side?
If you can get to Capitol Hill, you can sled down it legally now.
Listen Live
Listen live on WTOP.com, on the WTOP app or tune in to 103.5 FM.
