Jocelyn Bogen stood outside with a shovel in hand Tuesday afternoon, contemplating how she would make it past her frozen doorway and across town to meet a colleague.
Driving wasn’t an option, she said. The side street was worse off, with the hill leading to her home still covered in ice. Residents in her Fort Lincoln neighborhood in Northeast Washington said they received an email that there would be a plow coming. But they were told that yesterday, too.
“It’s hard to react to,” Bogen said of the conditions. “We don’t normally have sleet storms.”
Across the D.C. region, other residents and government crews alike were also still working to clear away snow and ice that is stubbornly clinging to roads and sidewalks under brutally cold air. Schools also announced further closures and local leaders in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties called for preserving water use after main breaks.
The Capital Weather Gang reports the cold snap could last beyond Groundhog Day, which is Monday, and could rank among the most severe cold spells since the late 1800s.
“With the mix of snow and ice, along with extremely low temperatures, this storm was more disruptive than usual, and we appreciate our community’s continued patience and understanding as we continue through our snow response,” Arlington County spokeswoman Erika Moore said in an email.
In the District, city Administrator Kevin Donahue said the amount of ice that formed on streets and the extended low temperatures has made the aftermath of this storm as challenging as storms with higher snowfall totals.
At first, the city deploys heavy trucks to plow major roads such as 16th street and Connecticut Avenue, and use light plows — pick up trucks with plows — to tackle residential streets. The heavy trucks will begin to be moved to residential streets as conditions on the larger streets improve, Donahue said. A city quality control team assesses streets block by block, taking into consideration 311 calls from residents as well, he said.
“Our folks are working around-the-clock and we are pulling in every available snowplow and piece of moving equipment to be able to have folks get their kids to school and to get to their jobs,” he said.
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) remindedproperty owners that they are responsible for clearing their sidewalks and said Tuesday that more than 600 people had signed up to be “Snow Team Heroes” to help clear walkways for seniors and residents with disabilities.
“We all can play a role in getting DC clear,” Bowser said in a Post on X. “A special thank you to all who volunteered to go above and beyond for neighbors in need.”
Still frustration mounted. Chef Matt Adler posted a video on social media showing clear sidewalks outside of his Northwest Washington restaurant Cucina Morini — and snow piled high on the street and curb cuts. In the footage, a few stray pedestrians were lifting their feet high to trudge through.
Adler, who is also the chef behind Caruso’s Grocery, said he spent the day at the establishment and hadn’t seen snowplows hit nearby back streets. Caruso’s was on track for the slowest night Tuesday since opening five years earlier, he said, with just 45 reservations, or about half what it would normally see.
“We really need the city to step up and take care of the rest of the streets again,” he said. “You know, I give them grace. I know people are out there working hard, and it’s not an easy job by any means, but we have to. I mean, we’re the nation’s capital.”
Some District roads and sidewalks also are managed by the federal government.
A spokesperson for the National Park Service said sites managed by the agency had largely been cleared as of Tuesday afternoon. Crews were continuing to clear secondary roads, sidewalks, trails, parking lots and some visitor areas.
“Crews will reopen remaining closures, mainly along the George Washington Memorial Parkway and a few sites outside the Beltway, as soon as conditions allow,” Jasmine Shanti said in an email.
In Montgomery County, council member Will Jawando (D-At Large) wrote in an email to community members residential plowing in the county was about 50 percent complete as of 7 p.m. Monday, and a first pass on all neighborhood streets was expected to be completed by Tuesday afternoon. Free parking in county garages has been extended throughout the snow emergency, which Jawando said could likely conclude on Wednesday.
In Virginia, the state department of transportation said that crews were still out clearing secondary road and subdivisions, but cautioned that progress would be slower due to the temperatures.
“Bare pavement is not a realistic expectation right now,” the agency wrote on social media.
In Loudoun County, where VDOT is responsible for the vast majority of snow removal, officials say they have received reports from residents that many secondary roads have gone unplowed or still require maintenance.
“While most of the main highways and roads in Loudoun County are in good condition, residential streets and cul-de-sacs still need attention,” county spokesman Glen Barbour said in an email.
Elsewhere in Northern Virginia, Fairfax County government offices and courts are set to open Wednesday and county trash and recycling will resume their regular schedule, a county spokesperson said in an email.
Meanwhile in Maryland, WSSC Water issued an urgent request for its 1.9 million customers in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties to only use water for essential purposes, citing an increase in water main breaks and leaks because of the cold. It advised, for example, taking shorter showers and limiting flushing toilets and any use of washing machine or dishwashers.
The utility said it was aware of 33 breaks and leaks as of Tuesday morning, but said in a news release conditions are limiting crews’ ability to spot other potential breaks.
The prolonged cleanup efforts will disrupt school for D.C.-area students for a third day. Most of the region’s school systems won’t hold classes Wednesday, though Alexandria City schools and some charters in D.C. will have virtual learning. The Montgomery and Prince George’s districts will also be closed Thursday, officials said.
Districts consider a number of factors, including road conditions across the entire district, in deciding whether to hold classes, and many did not plan to offer virtual learning.
Federal offices also remained closedon Tuesday asking employees who could to telework. But Scott Kupor, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, posted on X early in the afternoon that federal offices were on track to reopen Wednesday, citing progress on clearing roads.
The weather may have also contributed to at least one death in the region. On Sunday, officers responded to a report that a man in his 70s had collapsed while clearing snow, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. The man was transported to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
As residents clear their properties, officials are asking them to exercise care.
At MedStar Health Miriam Fischer, an emergency medicine doctor, said people should remember that shoveling snow and ice is physically hard work that most people don’t do regularly.
“You can overexert yourself and strain muscles,” she said. She advises people to dress in layers and cover exposed skin and wear shoes with treads on them when outside in the cold. When shoveling, medical experts recommend people take it slow, rest often, drink plenty of fluids and bend their knees when lifting snow.
She and other medical experts said they often see a spike in people coming in for help or refills of medications because they’ll wait until roads clear and the weather improves.
She said volumes of visits, for now, are down in the emergency room. “People are listening and staying home,” she said.
Dana Hedgpeth contributed to this report.
How to check road conditions in your area:
Here are a few sites to help you keep tabs on street clearings in portions of the region.
- D.C.: Snow Team Tracker
- Montgomery County: Winter Storm Information Portal
- Prince George’s County: PGCTrackSnow
- Virginia Department of Transportation: VDOT Plows
- Alexandria: SnowReport
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