WASHINGTON — Sadly, tourists and locals alike will not get a chance to see Xiao Qi Ji rolling around in the snow in person Friday, as all Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are closed due to severe weather. For now, the panda cam will have to suffice for anyone looking to get an animal-snow-day fix.
While snow had stopped accumulating by the time most people woke up in the DMV, early snowfall totals still reported several inches of powder. Reagan National Airport recorded 2.6 inches, while Dulles had 4 inches and BWI clocked in at 3 inches.
Most of Northern Virginia's major school systems made the call Thursday evening to close for Friday, giving students a full week of snow days after the holiday break. Several Maryland school districts also reconsidered opening their doors Friday morning after seeing road conditions, including Montgomery County Public Schools, which moved from a 2-hour delay status to closing fully.
You can see the full list of school closures here.
Authorities are asking anyone who does not need to be on the roads to stay in and allow plow crews to do their jobs.
D.C. road crews have been working in 12-hour shifts since a major snowstorm slammed the region on Monday, according to D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Chris Geldart.
"We got out late last night, early this morning and pretreated all of our residential streets first and then worked our way out to the main streets," he said.
That's a change from what we saw Monday, where the storm started out as rain before transitioning to snow. The wet start prevented crews from pretreating roads, which led to dangerous conditions Monday.
As the snow moves out of the area Friday, road inspectors will be keeping an eye on streets to see if they need additional attention.
Crews are also preparing for ice by treating the roads as they clear snow from roads.
"We're going to be treating and plowing the rest of the day," Geldart said.
The rest of Friday should be dry and sunny, but it will still feel bone-chillingly cold. High temperatures will stay in the upper 20s to around 30, with wind chills in the teens and 20s through the day.