Federal offices in Washington, D.C., are closed Monday, as the nation's capital braces to be the latest major city hit by a major winter storm that has canceled more than 3,000 flights in recent days, broken snow records and killed at least three people.
Crews work before dawn to clear snow from the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2025.
Tens of millions of people in the eastern half of the country are under a weather warning or advisory, with winter storm warnings stretching from central Illinois to southern New Jersey and cold weather alerts covering states like Texas, Kansas and Missouri—and blizzard warnings for much of Kansas and Missouri were lifted overnight.
Winter storm warnings cover much of the midwest and East Coast and states of emergency have been declared in six states (plus a snow emergency in D.C.).
Parts of Virginia are expecting between 5 and 12 inches of snow Monday, and D.C. and Baltimore could get from 8 to 12 inches.
There's a chance the storm could produce the largest snow totals for Washington D.C. since 2016, when the "Snowzilla" blizzard dropped 10.3 inches between Jan. 12 and 14, and it's likely to produce the most single-storm snow since 6.9 inches fell in January of 2022.
Other major cities expected to be hit with inclement weather Monday include Indianapolis, Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati; Charleston, West Virginia; Philadelphia and Richmond, Virginia.
Snowfall is expected to largely end by Tuesday morning.
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
A stack of Jack Daniel's brand whiskey barrels sits outside the Brown-Forman Corp. cooperage on Jan. ... [+]
Darin Campbell uses a snow blower to remove snow from his driveway on Jan. 5, 2025 in Shawnee, ... [+]
Winter Storm Blair first impacted the Central Plains late Saturday, then moved across the Ohio and Tennessee valleys Sunday before heading for the Mid-Atlantic on Monday. More than a foot of snow fell in Kansas City in 24 hours on Sunday, breaking a record set in 1993, and Cincinnati broke its single-day snow record for Jan. 5 with 5 inches of snow. Topeka, Kansas, got 14.1 inches of snow Sunday, the third largest calendar day of snowfall on record. Most state and local government offices were closed Monday in Kentucky after up to 5 inches of snow fell in many places.
Winter storm warnings are in place for parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, along with D.C. Meanwhile, cold weather advisories are set for much of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Snow covers homes during a winter storm, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Cincinnati.
A person dusts snow off of a car during a winter storm, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Cincinnati.
Federal government offices and Smithsonian museums in D.C. are closed Monday due to the weather, though remote and telework employees are still expected to clock in, and the closure will not affect Congress, which is still set to meet on Capitol Hill to officially certify the election of President-elect Donald Trump. The certification comes four years to the day after Congress met to do the same for the 2020 election results and were met with a mob of Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol building. A handful of people died, hundreds more were injured and the riot caused millions of dollars in property damage.
Public school districts from Missouri to Ohio and D.C. will be closed Monday, delaying a return from winter break. All public schools in D.C. are closed Monday, in addition to those in Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia, and Baltimore. Cincinnati schools are closed for the day, as are some in Louisville, Kentucky, and Springfield, Missouri. Ohio State University has canceled in-person classes at its Columbus campus Monday, as did University of Kentucky and a handful of Maryland universities.
More than 1,800 U.S. flights were cancelled on Sunday while another 8,500 faced delays, and more than 1,000 were canceled early Monday morning, including hundreds across Reagan National, Baltimore/Washington International and Dulles International in Washington D.C. On Sunday, 90% of all flights both into and out of the Kansas City Airport were cancelled and St. Louis was also badly hit with a 67% cancellation rate.
A FedEx Corp. cargo jet sits parked in the snow at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on ... [+]
Southern Illinois, western Kentucky and southeast Missouri were hit with "significant icing" that created dangerous road conditions, and the Kansas Department of Transportation closed all highways in the northeastern part of the state, including I-70, on Sunday. Amtrak canceled dozens of Acela and Northeast Regional trains serving the northeastern United States on Sunday evening and Monday, with trains between New York City and D.C. particularly hard-hit. Trains serving the Midwest—including routes connecting St Louis, Chicago and Kansas City—were also cancelled on Monday.
Tens of thousands of customers were without power in the Central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic on Monday morning. More than 111,000 people were in the dark in Virginia as of 9:30 a.m. EST, according to poweroutage.us, in addition to 85,000 in Kentucky, 46,000 in West Virginia, 37,000 in Illinois and 33,000 in Missouri.
- That’s how many people have been reported dead in traffic accidents in Kansas and Missouri due to the storm, according to CNN.