A major late-winter storm is moving up the East Coast into New York and New England after dumping rain and snow across the mid-Atlantic region.
Officials closed the federal government and canceled schools Wednesday, anticipating heavy snow and hazardous driving conditions. Hundreds of airline flights were canceled and power crews were ordered to stand by.
A pedestrian walks down Pennsylvania Ave. near the White House in Washington, DC, March 6, 2013. Schools, businesses and the federal government closed in anticipation of a snow storm that could blanket the region.
A woman walks by the Cloud Gate Sculpture (known as "The Bean") during a snowstorm in Chicago, March 5, 2013.
A snow plow clears a parking lot at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, March 5, 2013.
Tourists brave the falling snow to visit the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, March 6, 2013.
A tourist takes cover underneath an umbrella near the U.S. Capitol as snow and rain falls in Washington, March 6, 2013.
The winter storm system is seen over the eastern United States in this March 6, 2013 satellite image courtesy of NASA.
A man rides his bicycle near Lake Michigan in Chicago, March 3, 2013.
But the air and ground were too warm to create anything more than a slushy rainy mess in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Snow totals were higher in the nearby Maryland and Virginia mountains and in western Pennsylvania.
This was the same storm that dumped 60 centimeters of snow on parts of the western state of Montana earlier this week.