"Snowpocalypse" hits the Other Washington

Well, at least it's not us this time:

The full weight of winter brought life in much of the Washington region to a standstill Saturday as a storm predicted to be one of the most powerful on record dumped 12 to 21 inches of snow overnight.

Police reported two fatalities -- a father and son hit by a tractor-trailer in Virginia when they stopped to help a stranded motorist -- and with the snowfall expected to outpace plows' ability to clear it, officials pleaded with people to stay off the roads until conditions improve.

This is looking to be an epic storm... it's so bad the Postal service has canceled delivery and decided to shut down all of its D.C. area retail locations. Most flights out of Reagan, Dulles, and BWI have been canceled. Amtrak isn't running trains and Metro, the public transportation agency, has immobilized its entire fleet except for underground trains. Navigating throughout the area has become all but impossible.

The Post quoted Karyn LeBlanc from D.C.'s Department of Transportation as saying the snow is coming down so fast and so hard it can't be cleared.

"We are not in the residential streets now because we have to keep the major roads open. Once the snow stops, our main priority is to get back into the residential streets."

She said the focus now is on plowing. "We've stopped salting and treating."

"It's been coming so heavy that by the time you get down the [plow] route you have to return and do it over again."

Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people are said to be without power across the Mid-Atlantic this morning.

Power may be out in some neighborhoods for days because crews cannot attempt to restore power in blizzard-like conditions.

The blizzard has not, however, stopped the Democratic National Committee meeting from taking place. The White House "SNOTUS" pool reported less than an hour ago that President Barack Obama's motorcade left the White House at 7:15 AM Pacific Time for the Capital Hilton, where the meeting is taking place, and arrived four minutes later. The motorcade managed to get there safely, with the only mishap being a fender bender between an ambulance and a press SUV.

The Washington Post has a pretty impressive storm gallery for those who want to see what the record snowfall looks like.