(NEW YORK) — A winter storm passing through the Mid-Atlantic on Monday has covered cities like Washington, D.C., in more than half a foot of snow.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning affecting portions of southern New Jersey, eastern Maryland, northeast Virginia and all of Delaware until 4 p.m.
The winter storm is producing strong gusty winds which could contribute to power outages in the Southeast, mid-Atlantic and the Appalachians.
Areas from Asheville, North Carolina, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also reported snow on Monday.
The storm has already caused major power outages in Virginia and North Carolina. More than 760,072 customers were left without power overnight in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Maryland.
Videos on social media showed roads shut down in parts of Alexandria, Virginia, with cars stuck on hills due to heavy snowfall.
Total storm snowfall accumulations on the East Coast could be near a foot.
Early afternoon reports from D.C. showed blizzard-like conditions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport with sightings of downed trees after the airport had already proactively canceled several flights.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared and extended a snow emergency beginning midnight on Monday to 7 a.m. local time Tuesday, deploying the district’s Snow Team and prohibiting vehicular parking along snow emergency routes to make way for snowplows.
A number of school districts in the Washington metropolitan area were closed because of the weather.
D.C. public schools, however, were already scheduled to be closed Monday and Tuesday following last week’s announcement about schools requiring negative COVID-19 test results upon returning from winter break.
Federal offices in D.C. were also closed on Monday with emergency employees told to follow their agency’s policies and some non-emergency employees offered weather and safety leave, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced.
Residents of the district were discouraged from leaving their houses for non-essential travel by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which is running on a “severe snow service plan” with service limited only to major roads.
D.C. Police Department also took to Twitter to advise against non-essential trips.
Images of snow-covered Washington were shared on social media.
A livestream from The National Zoo, which is closed due to the inclement weather, captured the giant pandas outside their grottos enjoying the winter weather and playing in the snow.
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