A heavy snowfall whitens the Washington Monuments

(Washington, United States) “Now that’s the real White House. That’s her name, but she’s fairer for emphasis,” he says with a laugh Infobay Maria, a Cuban who lives in Miami but is visiting Washington with her family, was “surprised” by the snowstorm.

“It was exactly what we wanted to see, but it surprised us. It has happened more than enough, because it has snowed a lot. But we are having a great time,” he added with the presidential residence behind him.

On the second day of the week, and the snow that fell on Tuesday had not yet melted, the capital of the United States was hit this Friday by a new winter storm that forced the closure of schools and affected public transport in a city that was almost deserted. .

The snowstorm forced the closure of both public and private schools throughout the Washington metropolitan area, where 5.8 million people live there and also covers areas of the states of Maryland and Virginia. Ronald Reagan and Dulles airports had to cancel and reschedule flights. Snow that forms with snowfall can be very dangerous. This is the first snowfall in two yearsGiven that no episodes were recorded in the winter of 2023.

The National Weather Service has established warnings for various areas of the metropolitan area. For Loudoun County in Virginia and Montgomery and Frederick Counties in Maryland, the warning was “Winter Storm” until 7:00 pm local time. That active a Code red This includes closing schools and some public services. The same was true on Tuesday, where closures covering federal and state buildings were stronger. This Friday, in the DC area, the warning was mild, called a “Winter Weather Warning.” For the entire metropolitan area, an average of 3.5 inches of snow was expected this Friday. Some cities, such as Gaithersburg in Montgomery County, Maryland, were also expected to accumulate about 6 inches of snow.

In the afternoon, a few blocks from the White House, five teenagers are playing Snow Fight. Every day they make balls with their hands of snow collected from wherever there is grass and throw it at them, taking advantage of the fact that almost no one walks on the streets. It is an area where the flow of pedestrian circulation is generally high, as it is the street that connects the White House to the National Mall, the green space that connects the Washington Monument, the capital’s iconic stone obelisk, to Congress.

That area was transformed into an improvised ski slope for dozens of people this Friday. A child skated at high speed, avoiding others who were taking advantage of the snow to build snowmen and take photos with them. In recent days, images of a man who did “Speedride”, A combination of skiing and paragliding on the National Mall.

Two other youths walking near the obelisk play with snowballs. They are Colombian and have relatives in Jacksonville, but they are visiting Washington, where a snowstorm caught them by surprise.

They are accompanied by the ladies of the family, who prefer taking photos to ice fights. “It was unexpected. We don’t have gloves, socks, scarves or anything. “We’re making improvements here,” Valentina said. Infobay. Nayibe said that it was the first time in his life that he had seen snow.

He is from Cali, Colombia, 3,940 kilometers from the capital of the United States. It was 31 degrees there this Friday while it was two degrees below zero in Washington. “It’s a very different experience. We come from a city that’s very hot, so it’s very unexpected,” added Cecilia, another Colombian family member.

Meanwhile, snow plows work counter-clockwise. The human and material resources devoted to clearing snow and keeping some streets and roads clean are intense. In DC alone, more than 800 people and 500 specialized vehicles are responsible for cleaning major thoroughfares in a 12-hour shift. Each person is specifically trained and targeted for these winter emergencies Prevent ice from accumulating and becoming hazardous.

On 17th Street NW, above Lafayette Square and just a few meters from the White House, you can see entire lanes of the street occupied by trucks, machines and various types of vehicles ready to be freed from the streets. Municipalities use tons of salt to pave sidewalks and prevent pedestrians from falling.

In Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland, Infobay He saw dozens of people shoveling snow throughout the day.

Although state officials of the federal government had to work this Friday, many offices had enabled teleworking, leaving the streets almost deserted. The subway, even during its normal peak hours, carried very few passengers.

It was early afternoon when the downtown area saw more movement as thousands of pro-life protesters planned to hold a massive march in front of the Supreme Court.

The massive demonstration on the National Mall was not called off despite the storm. Despite the cold and snow, many of them attended the event, which in any case was much smaller than expected as a result of the storm.

As the afternoon falls, the postcard is very different from the morning one. Traffic has practically disappeared from the streets. There are only a few brave ones left who dare to cross the banks of accumulated snow on the sides.

The postcard image of Washington DC covered in a blanket of white will forever be etched in the memory of tourists who were lucky enough to plan a trip to the capital for this week. Although very low temperatures are expected for Saturday, not much snow is expected for the next few days so the melt will almost certainly subside. Washingtonians know that life will return to normal in a few days in a city that has recently become accustomed to extremes.