The Big Picture - 
By Glynn Wilson - 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – We are not going to let a few inches of snow prevent the mission from going forward to “preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.”

A massive winter storm dumped 6-12 inches of wet, heavy snow all along the Eastern Seaboard on Monday, and the mercury dipped into the teens Monday night, but by noon on Tuesday the roads had been cleared and we were back in business in this campground 10 miles due north of the Washington Monument.

Federal government offices and schools in the Washington, D.C., area were closed on Monday and Tuesday as the region got its first significant snowfall of the season, part of a winter storm that left at least three dead and more than half a million customers without power as it slammed the East Coast in the first major blizzard here since 2019.

The storm, which dropped about 12 inches of snow in the area beginning Monday morning, quickly overwhelmed snow-removal crews on a hilly stretch of Interstate 95 in Virginia, slowing traffic before crippling a section of the East Coast’s busiest highway already known for gridlock. Transportation officials cited multiple crashes in the Fredericksburg area, some involving jackknifed tractor-trailers, and closed the highway Tuesday morning.

But the stretch of interstate reopened Tuesday night after the winter storm paralyzed vehicles for 48 miles south of Washington, leaving hundreds of motorists stranded — many for more than 24 hours without food or water — as temperatures fell into the teens.

On Tuesday afternoon, with roads cleared in the campground, we were able to make the rounds of Greenbelt Park and photograph the winter scenes. We will continue to search out photos of the wildlife on Wednesday, and the weather report calls for more snow overnight on Thursday.

Shots From NPS

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