‘Closing Federal Government’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

Looks like OPM got its act together to move the one piece of information offsite that everyone wants. The Feds are closed Tuesday.

‘by george’
courtesy of ‘mofo’

Like everyone else in DC, we’ve been watching WMATA like hawks, waiting to hear what their plan for Tuesday is. The word’s just in:

Metro is continuing mostly underground-only for rail service for the time being, but the Blue and Yellow lines have both been restored enough to get into the District, and the Orange line will run completely end-to-end. The hazards of digging out all of Metro’s rail yards out from under two to three feet of snow has just been too much to bear for a system that’s having difficulty getting their necessary manpower to bear in the storm. WMATA’s Doug Karas said in an email, “What worries me is not so much clearing the aboveground track, but digging about 800 trains out of 2-3 feet of snow, clearing the track at the railyards so you can move those cars around and put the trains together.” Read the full Metro press release for details on which stations will be open.

Bus service will continue to be limited on Tuesday.

With a storm bearing down for tomorrow afternoon, threatening to bring 10-20 inches of snow, Metro’s possibly facing (continued) above-ground rail closures and further bus delays/cancellations as we make our way into the rest of the week. Metro is asking for folks to help try to shovel out bus stops, as people in the road waiting for the bus are a traffic hazard, so if you get a chance, help dig out your nearest stop.

‘Lotus #67’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

There’s more white crap on the way (seriously, since I am basically suspended in mid-move waiting for delivery of things like my COUCH and my BED, I couldn’t be more over this nonsense), so we thought we’d take a minute to reiterate Kirk’s very sound suggestions for surviving a Snowpocalypse. Kirk’s got the scoop on the supplies you need to have on hand, how not to kill yourself in your own car, and how to keep the snow under control around your home. I quote:

Make sure you’ve got blankets and logs for your fireplace (if you have one), in case you lose heat. Finally, get the appropriate clothing, particularly boots.  There’s a saying that goes “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.” This couldn’t be more true. Buy warm, water proof gear, and layer it up.

Read it, follow the advice, and make sure you’re ready to stay safe and warm during this next storm. And let us know what you recommend for surviving the Snowpocalypse.

‘Capitol Sledding’
courtesy of ‘Tony DeFilippo’

Just when you thought it was safe. Capital Weather Gang has a new forecast for tomorrow’s renewed blast: Bend Over, Here It Comes Again. They’re saying it’s probable that the region will get another 5-10″ of the white stuff (which I nearly typoed into shite stuff) with a 25% chance of 10+”. While Loudoun and points south and west of Fairfax will get less, the folks up near Baltimore should expect 10+” anyhow.

What is it with this winter? El Niño? Who knows. Either way, it seems aboveground rail may be a distant memory for DC thanks to the additional accumulation.

‘Monroe Street After Blizzard’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

So you’re now at the point of stir craziness where you’ve decided that you might as well take some photos of the Snowmageddon™ to prove you were there. But while you can’t look outside without squinting behind your sunglasses, all your pictures come out looking dark and uninspiring. What gives? KenRockwell.com has some pointers on how to bring the snow from grey to white in your photos. There’s also a lot of tips from the Smithsonian about shooting in the snow around DC.

The base problem is this: Your camera’s auto exposure is overreacting and you just need to tweak it to allow more light. Even most digital point and shoots have this in their menus somewhere (sometimes called EV Steps). Cold causes batteries to drain more quickly, so be sure to carry spares. Also consider dropping your ISO down to 100 or 200. You’ll get a lot less grain in your shots.

When you’re done with your Ansel Adams styled photos of the snow, be sure to submit them to our WeLoveDC Flickr pool!

‘101_0720’
courtesy of ‘AlishaV’

Yes, I realize the vast majority of you are not Lifehacker readers and think this headline ranks somewhere along with “bologna fails at making warm hats,” but some of us were suckered in by this past Lifehacker post suggesting that non-stick cooking spray will help prevent wet snow from sticking to shovels.

If you didn’t try it, don’t bother. It might have worked for one shovel-load – might – but it surely did not make it any easier to get sticky snow off my shovel yesterday. Save your nonstick spray for your shelter-in-place omelet.

Check out the sweet new Aerotrain at Dulles! After making it through my underpants check at Dulles, I was greeted with the new subway system. I got in the front car and managed to get a pretty decent little video of the trip out to the B Terminals (where Five Guys promptly closed when I got there. I waited for that cheeseburger, you douches, why the hell are you closing during snowpocalypse? FOAD!) and now I’m headed out to San Francisco for a week of IT conference sessions.

IAD is up and running for limited flights. Judging by the board, about two thirds the United and Delta flights are cancelled, and the remaining on time. Southwest has cancelled all their IAD flights, but Virgin seems to be up and running. If you’re headed to Dulles, you’d better hail a cab, though, as the Flyer bus is not running, not that that Metro is going to West Falls Church.

DCA is down for the count, with no flight ops planned today, and questionable for tomorrow. I would Tuesday is the earliest planes will leave from National.

BWI is saying “limited if any” service today commercially, but snow removal operations continue apace and I would bet they’ll be operating again tomorrow.