Snow Shuts Down Federal Government in Washington

February 8, 2010 5:27 p.m. EST

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) - Hardly anything moved in Washington, D.C., Monday, least of all the federal government, which shut down from more than two feet of snow a blizzard dumped on the nation's capital over the weekend.

The Office of Personnel Management put out a notice to federal workers to stay home, giving 230,000 employees a snow day.

Taxpayers will pick up a roughly $100 million bill for the government shutdown.

Even the White House press office canceled its usual daily press briefing.

President Obama stayed in the White House to meet with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

Obama referred to the storm as "Snowmageddon," a play on words that combines snow with a reference to the Bible's war between good and evil known as Armageddon.

Most people who might have wanted to get to work had no means of getting there.

"The snow is beautiful," said a State Department employee spending her day off in front of the Capitol. "I'd rather be at work if I could get there."

She asked not to be identified by name, citing government policy.

Phillip Tyler, 17, a Friendship Collegiate Academy high school student, had mixed feelings about his day off of school.

"I'm happy but I'm sad because I can't skate as good," he said.

He and a friend skateboarded on a recently cleared street near the Capitol that normally would be crowded with mid-afternoon traffic.

"All the snow on the ground is covering the dry areas," he said.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority stopped all above-ground train service to the suburbs. Only a downtown circulator bus continued operating.

Streets and sidewalks were cluttered with snow drifts and cars parked haphazardly after their owners became stuck.

PEPCO, the Washington area's main power company, was still trying to restore service to 42,000 customers Monday morning.

The Washington, D.C., government remained open to organize snow-clearing efforts. The local transportation department had 750 workers operating 270 pieces of equipment working around the clock.

Local airports resumed limited service Monday.

Normally, the disruption for the federal government would last only a day or two until the streets were cleared.

This time, a second storm bringing at least 10 inches of snow is predicted to arrive Tuesday evening and continue into Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

It is expected to hit about the same area of the Mid-Atlantic as the weekend blizzard, which also dumped snow on Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.