Winter Hits in a Burst of White

"So far, so good," said Erik Linden, a spokesman for the District's Department of Transportation. "Our crews have been raring to go."

By afternoon, a thin carpet of snow covered Rock Creek Park. A light dusting blanketed cars in downtown. There wasn't a lot of snow, but it was enough to send Tom Cosgrove scurrying to Hardware City in Kensington to buy four new sleds.

"They're on the hill waiting for these," he said of his children and their friends. "There was enough snow that we thought we'd give it a try."

Assistant store manager Jason Schaffer said the store's de-icing pellets -- largely ignored since they were put out in November -- were selling briskly, more than 100 bags by late afternoon, not to mention snow scrapers, gloves and firewood.

Still, there were signs that some folks weren't buying into the snow frenzy.

While others were hitting Hardware City to stock up winter supplies, Eric Eicher of Silver Spring was buying a 20-pound bag of charcoal for a chicken wing barbecue he planned to do on his porch to celebrate the NFC championship.

As recently as Jan. 15, the temperature was a balmy 68. And even as many Washingtonians basked in the warm temperatures, some secretly fretted that something sinister might be afoot, what with all that talk about global warming.

But scientists are mixed on whether the balmy weather is the product of global warming. Some attribute the unusual temperatures to El Niño, a weather phenomenon brought on by warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean. But there have been previous years when there was little to no snowfall, Rogowski said. In 1998, the area received only a half-inch of snow; in 1931, there was only an inch.

The region's last real snowstorm came Feb. 11 and 12, dropping nearly nine inches in Washington and 13 inches in Baltimore.

This storm, and the chilly week that preceded it, broke up an unseasonably warm stretch of summery winter days. December was the 10th warmest on record in Washington, with a stretch of 21 consecutive days of above-normal average temperatures.

In Northwest Washington, Shafiqua Areef said her family had checked the weather before laying out wares at the U street flea market yesterday, but by afternoon, she stood in the middle of a soggy mess, packing up.

"It just came out of nowhere," said Areef, 18, of Springfield. "If we would have known in advance, we wouldn't have come here."

She said she thought the snow wasn't supposed to come until 11 p.m., well after the flea market's 5 p.m. closing. But by 1:30, she and other vendors scrambled to pack up, shoving clothes in plastic bags and antiques in cardboard boxes that were slowly collecting a coat of snow.

For his part, Bill Deegan of Wheaton couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. He wouldn't be seen scurrying off to stock up on toilet paper or de-icing pellets.

"An inch or less, I don't even bother," Deegan said. "People panicking about one inch is ridiculous."

Staff writers Theresa Vargas and Martin Weil contributed to this report.