When I was in DC once for meeting our HI legislators, the weather had been unseasonably warm and then cold again, causing the cherry blossoms to bloom early. They were lovely and NO crowds. 
Here in NoVA the schools are closed all week. They have been plowing the roads but there is still lot of work to be done. On many roads there is only one lane plowed each way and at certain points the lane disappears and you find yourself driving on the median. It is going to take a while for things to get back to normal. If you are driving it’s best to allow for extra time to reach your destination and drive slowly and carefully. ( that is if you are able to get out onto the main roads)
Took me an hour and fifty minutes to get from Derwood (2 miles from Shady Grove Metro) to Arlington Rd. in Bethesda this morning. It’s 18 miles. Usually takes 35 min.
I’m surprised school is still closed in NoVa. We got 30 inches of snow in my town, and only closed for one day. I guess they just have more snow removal practice in Jersey.
^^and people accustomed to driving on snow. I’ve found that makes a big difference too. I was appalled on tonight’s NBC news when they showed a city still very much un-plowed. Cars were completely locked in the snow, and the city had the audacity to give $65,000 of parking tickets? smh
Wow! My town has suspended all ticketing for a week. We have a lot of homes without driveways, and apartments with no parking spaces. People need to be able to park on the streets, so they’re being allowed to keep their cars in municipal lots, metered spaces, etc, which iwll help them find spots until the streets become more park-able.
NYC got a handle on the storm by prohibiting driving from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning. Monday morning, the subways were almost all running, buses running, schools open, but alternate side of the street parking rules suspended all week. By now most of the snow has melted. Good call.
This is surprising to those of us who grew up in places with cold winters. However as a long time DC area resident, I think the decision makes sense. My street was not plowed out until 10 PM last night. The sidewalks are covered in snow from the backhoe that cleared the street. There is only one lane open and the kids would have to walk in it. The county I live in has many small very winding roads and is very hilly. Those area are worse. I doubt that buses could get through them.
I’m happy to see schools still closed here in MD also. There are huge piles of snow on the roads, especially at corners, and so safe places for kids to wait for school buses. PLUS, they are calling for ice tomorrow morning, and I’d really hate to have HS kids out on the roads in danger. Better safe than sorry.
So those of you in spots like VA and DC that have school closed all week…what is your state snow day policy? Are you allowed a certain number before they have to be made up??? Just wondering since apparently snow days are not the norm it sounds like!
abasket it varies by county, but there are typically a certain number of days built in to the school calendar for snow days or other emergencies. If more days are taken, days are added on to the end of the year. It has happened at least a few times that I remember.
Fairfax County has allotted 10 snow days this school year. We’ve used 6 so far.
So do you think you have more than 5 - what it seems some of the schools used this week?
In our community in NoVA, the place where students stand to wait for the bus is piled up with snow from plowing. Their only choice would be to stand on the street where there is one lane of traffic. On the main roads the snow is piled high on the walkways. At least now we have four more days till Monday to get this snow cleaned up so that it is safer for everyone especially the school aged kids. We have a metro stop walking distance from us but the only way to get there is to walk on the road which is very unsafe with the speedy cars flying by. On top of that we have a lot of construction going on in the area so the street lane is narrower than usual.
We drove our daughter back to her school outside of Baltimore today. Movie n day was supposed to have been this past Sunday. Clear to see why the delay ! There was a tremendous amount of snow on the ground and piled up in the streets ! It was good to come back up north to most of our snow melted 
^Come up a little farther north, lje! We got snow to spare in Essex County.
But our town did an unbelievable job Sunday and Monday to clear corners, sidewalks, school parking lots, etc, so kids could get to school whether walkers or bussers. There are some outlying rough spots, and parking is difficult, but the safe traveling to schools was amazing, especially considering how much snow we still have --mountains of it everywhere.
DC did this? Unbelievable!
“Since the blizzard began last Friday, the District has issued $1,078,000 worth of parking tickets and $65,600 in fines so far. It has towed 656 cars.
And until the snow emergency expires, the District will continue to ticket and tow vehicles parked or abandoned on any snow emergency route (PDF), or considered to be road hazards. Crews are trying to plow streets from curb to curb, officials said, and vehicles parked in the way of plows will have to be removed.
Cars parked in a traffic lane on any road that are deemed a hazard or a barrier to snow removal may also be towed.”
My street was finally plowed Tuesday night. It’s nice to have a clear street but all the corners have huge mountains of snow. I can see why schools are still closed. It’s near impossible to walk and as others pointed out, there’s no busstop. High school students would have to stand in an icy street while it’s still dark outside. Yeah, no.
Keeping the schools closed is the right call. In my part of Maryland, you can drive on the roads now, but you can’t safely walk on them or stand at a street corner. No matter how great the inconvenience and no matter how much instructional time is lost, it’s better than having a child killed at a bus stop.