D.C. snow day cuts power and delays re-openings

The biggest snowstorm in about three years blanketed the Washington region Monday, upending delicate plans to reopen schools and leaving some motorists stranded.

By the numbers: A solid 8.5 inches of heavy wet snow was recorded in Washington, D.C., the most since Jan. 13, 2019, snapping tree branches and weighing down power lines.

• More snow fell in about eight hours than all of last winter, National Weather Service data shows.

Driving the news: Several school systems stayed closed Tuesday as residential streets still need help digging out and what was on the ground underwent a deep freeze overnight.

• D.C. Public Schools currently plan to return from winter break on Thursday, with staff expected to take a coronavirus test Tuesday and students tomorrow in order to enter classrooms.
• The District government’s PCR clinics and sites distributing self-test kits open at 11am after being canceled yesterday.
• The District’s snow emergency lifts at 7am today.

Three people were killed and one person was injured after a car reportedly hit a snowplow last night.

• Unsafe road conditions suspended Metrobus service yesterday from 9:30am until until 6pm, when buses began returning to some routes.

• On social media, motorists shared stories of getting stuck on the Capital Beltway for several hours. The heaviest of the snow fell between late morning and 2pm.

Power was out for thousands of people across the DMV.

• As of this morning, 1,113 households in Arlington County, 1,920 in Alexandria, and 19,712 in Fairfax County are out of power. Some 25 households in Montgomery County and 3,094 households in Prince George’s County are without power as well, according to poweroutage.us.

According to Pepco, 536 customers are still impacted by power outages this morning.