Photos: DC Area Winter Storm Causes Travel Nightmare, School Closures

People sled on Capitol Hill during a winter storm January 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. - Wa
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Joshua Caplan

The storm which walloped the D.C. area with up to 10 inches of snow over the weekend has extended into Monday, causing major headaches for commuters, closure of a federal government agency and, snow days for dozens of public schools.

Drivers faced dangerous road conditions as ice and snow covered major highways. One accident involving a police officer occurred along the Interstate 270 north. The Washington Post reports no one was seriously injured in the crash.

The District of Columbia Public Schools, which oversees nearly 50,000 students across 111 schools, is closed Monday, along with several local government offices and courts. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management notified employees Sunday it would be closed the following day due to the storm, asking them to telework from home instead.

A woman spreads salt as an another walks her dog on an icy street in Washington, DC on January 14, 2019. – Federal offices and all public school systems in the Washington DC area are closed Monday, as well as many private schools, colleges and local governments. (Photo by Eric BARADAT / AFP) (Photo credit should read ERIC BARADAT/AFP/Getty Images)

A few cars commute to downtown despite the weather in Washington, DC on on January 14, 2019. – Federal offices and all public school systems in the Washington DC area are closed Monday, as well as many private schools, colleges and local governments. (Photo by Eric BARADAT / AFP) (Photo credit should read ERIC BARADAT/AFP/Getty Images)

A man shovels snow on an icy street in Washington, DC on January 14, 2019. – Federal offices and all public school systems in the Washington DC area are closed Monday, as well as many private schools, colleges and local governments. (Photo by Eric BARADAT / AFP) (Photo credit should read ERIC BARADAT/AFP/Getty Images)

According to FlightAware.com, around 50 flights were delayed or canceled across the area’s three major airports. Virginia Railway Express, the commuter rail service connecting the Northern Virginia suburbs to Union Station in Washington, D.C., canceled all trips Monday.

Midwestern states such as Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Colorado were hit with nearly a foot of snow over the weekend, killing 7 people. On Friday, the storm hit the Rockies and Plains regions, moving East where it covered a 1,800-mile corridor from Colorado to the mid-Atlantic. Missouri’s the state’s highway patrol said its officers responded to roughly 4,000 calls and 1,700 stranded drivers as more than 20 inches fell.

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