WASHINGTON (AP) — A winter snowstorm blanketed the nation’s capital Monday, closing government offices, snarling travel and grounding the president’s helicopter. Up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) was forecast for the District of Columbia and parts of Virginia and Maryland.
Photos of the wintry landscape showed kids being pulled on sleds around the Capitol, a snow-covered Korean War Veterans Memorial and a reveler out for a run.
Dozens of flights were delayed or canceled at the city’s three main airports, according to FlightAware.com’s misery map. A quarter of the flights at New York’s three major airports were delayed or called off as well.
After spending the weekend in Delaware, President Joe Biden arrived safely aboard Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, then spent nearly a half hour on the runway as plows cleared a safe path. Biden emerged on the stairwell into a whiteout. Without the option to take a helicopter, he left in a motorcade for a slow slog back to the White House.