Feds & DCPS closed; DC Gov says report to work 1 hour later

Record snowfall has closed all above ground Metro stations. Photo Washington Syndicate

 

7:25AM _ The Syndicate has been watching NBC4 this morning since 5am. The streets within the beltway in DC and Maryland are treacherous with an earlier accident being reported at Georgia and Connecticut Avenue in Aspen Hill we can see the treachery out there.     

The Syndicate urges everyone to take it easy and don’t go around doing something stupid like trying to get Route 50 westbound.     

Mayor Fenty announced yesterday at 4:30pm that DCPS would open two hours late, but around 8:30pm the decision was reversed. The Syndicate knows of no charter or speciality school open today. All area school systems including area colleges are closed with many already announcing closure for Tuesday according to DCist.     

With an estimated 5 – 10 inches expected for Tuesday/ Wednesday it could be well into mid or late February that suburban areas are cleared.     

Metro continues to only run underground stations with trains running every 30 minutes. Limited bus service on only the mainest of main thoroughfares are running and service is limited. Also from the ist.     

Although the Syndicate does embrace and applaud Mayor Fenty’s esprit de corps the decision to open DC gov’t (an hour later) is misdirected and places the safety of American worker Bee inspired municipal workers, such as librarians at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, at risk. We appreciate the city’s rebellious spirit, but it is not business as usual. Take the day off and be safe.     

From the Examiner, “Along with the sheer volume of snow — more than 32 inches at Washington Dulles International Airport — the storm deposited wet, heavy underlayers that packed down into hard, icy strata that defied road crews’ best efforts. Winds then caused the top layers to drift, covering some already cleared areas. The little that melted was expected to refreeze overnight.     

The ice and drifting snow also afflict Metro, which on Sunday kept its buses and disability access vehicles off the roads and its aboveground Metrorail stations closed for a second day. It was not clear Sunday afternoon when regular service could resume, even on the rail system.     

“It’s slow-going, just like the roads,” Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato said. “It’s going to be a long recovery period for everybody.”     

Also from the Wash Examiner:     

“Snowmagedon vs. history      

The weekend storm hit near-record snowfalls, with as much as 40 inches falling in Colesville, Md., just north of the Capital Beltway. Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport clocked in its highest two-day snowfall ever, but only the second-highest was recorded at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.     

And overall the storm was only the fourth-highest two-day snowfall in Washington since 1871, according to the National Weather Service, in part because Reagan National Airport is now used as the official measurement spot.     

1. Knickerbocker storm, Jan. 17 and 18, 1922: 26.0 inches     

2. Feb. 12 and 13, 1899: 19.0 inches     

3. Feb. 18 and 19. 1979: 18.7 inches     

4. Snowmagedon, Feb. 5 and 6, 2010: 17.8 inches recorded at Reagan National Airport“     

 The North American blizzard of 2010 from Wikipedia

Tree Branch Falls on Presidential Motorcade near White Hosue

From msnbc, video of tree branch slowing Presidential Motorcade a half block from the White House.

Be CAREFUL out there!