Washington roads snowed under

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Only two cars could be spotted on Georgia Avenue near Columbia Road but July Black was doing quite well driving a bus with tire chains on Columbia Road to the Columbia Heights Station on Metro's Green Line.

"I like it. I have been on the clock. since 1 a.m.," said July Black, a shuttle bus driver who was ferrying staff for the Washington Hospital Center.

-- Hamil R. Harris

Original post: With up to 21 inches blanketing the Washington region, districts of transportation wrestled with clearing Washington's roads of snow, an effort impeded by downed trees across the area. The Capital Weather Gang forecast another 5 to 8 inches would fall before it all ends sometime in the afternoon.

Two lanes of I-95 northbound at Route 450 in Maryland were taken out by a disabled vehicle, and Canal Road NW between Arizona Avenue and Foxhall Road was blocked due to fallen trees on power lines. The District Department of Transportation was rushing to the scene.

Tractor-trailers appeared to be the main culprit clogging highways, along with a few drivers involved in fender benders. Authorities shut down southbound George Washington Memorial Parkway near the Beltway, after a semi crashed near the exit for Turkey Run at about 12:30 a.m. In Maryland, a tractor-trailer was stuck on the ramp from the outer loop of I-495 heading east on Route 50, due to the deteriorating conditions.

There were white-out conditions everywhere. Cameras showed I-270 south of Clarksburg was invisible in the snow, a condition prevalent throughout the region.