By Michael E. Ruane and Steve Vogel
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 6, 2007

A fierce blast of winter weather spread into the mid-Atlantic yesterday, bringing some of the coldest conditions to Washington in years and claiming the life of an elderly Silver Spring woman who wandered from her home and perished outdoors overnight.

The National Weather Service said today could be the coldest day in Washington since Jan. 10, 2004, when the mercury dipped to 8, which was the chilliest reading in the past decade. Such conditions can cause frostbite and hypothermia, forecasters said.

As pipes burst in homes and furnaces faltered in some District schools, homeless shelters extended their hours and officials across the region scoured the streets to try to make sure no one else froze to death.

Temperatures hovered in the teens much of yesterday and were forecast to plunge to around five degrees early today as 20-mph gusts made venturing outside dangerous.

By 11 p.m. yesterday, the mercury had dipped to 10 degrees in Frederick and Manassas and to 12 degrees at Dulles International Airport and in Leesburg and Winchester, Va. Winds ranged from 8 to 15 mph with fewer gusts.

In its 9:25 p.m. forecast, the Weather Service said it expected temperatures to plunge to about 5 degrees in the area early today, with windchill factors as low as 5 degrees below zero.

Officials in Culpeper County, Va., said schools would open two hours late this morning because of predicted low temperatures.

"It was just shockingly cold," said Marcie Roth, who distributed leaflets in Rockville yesterday in single-digit windchills. "I had hand warmers, and the hand warmers were not warming the tips of my fingers."

Gale warnings were in effect on the coast, from Maine to Virginia, as wind whipped up waves and freezing spray. The frigid temperatures and fierce winds -- which gripped the nation from Georgia to the Dakotas -- stung those who ventured out, drove birds to shelter in the lee of shrubs and rattled street signs and house shutters.

"This is the kind of cold that takes your breath away," said Kevin Brown, an Alexandria sheriff's deputy on lunch break about 2 p.m. "It just knocks the wind out of you."

Jeanne Taylor, who had joined Roth in Rockville yesterday, said: "I just ate a hot bowl of chili, and I am still cold."

In Old Town Alexandria, Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, a nonprofit health and tax policy research organization, said she had been working in a cold office, shivering. A pipe had frozen, but she had work to do.

She was trying to get by on cups of hot coffee and tea. "I don't know how many I've had," she said, standing in a Starbucks, a steaming cup of coffee in her hands.

Dressed in a thick black coat and red gloves, Turner said she returned from a trip to California late Sunday to weather that was more than 30 degrees colder. "I've lived here 30 years," she said. "But this is just unbelievably cold."

As public officials took steps to protect the homeless and to warn residents of danger, police said the cold had claimed at least one victim.

Annie Mae Anderson, an 81-year-old Silver Spring resident, was found dead in a ravine near her home. Anderson, who police said suffered from occasional dementia, apparently wandered away from the house she shared with her brother in the 600 block of Symphony Woods Drive sometime during the weekend. Police began searching for her Sunday night.

"She did not survive the exposure to the very cold weather," said Lucille Baur, a spokeswoman for Montgomery County police. About 11:15 a.m. yesterday, a canine team found Anderson's body down a steep hill in a wooded area behind several homes on Symphony Woods Drive.

Anderson was not wearing heavy winter clothing when she was found. "She was not prepared to be out in the cold," said Lt. Eric Burnett, a county police spokesman.

In Fairfax County, at least 800 people were forced from apartments in a high-rise building yesterday after a transformer failed. Those without other housing were sheltered at a local recreation center last night.

Fire officials were not sure if weather contributed to the blaze at River Towers, in the 3800 block of Cameron Run Terrace. The transformer erupted about 9 a.m., Fairfax fire spokesman Dan Schmidt said, sending smoke into the 16-story building. The fire was quickly extinguished.

The cold strained antiquated heating systems in several District schools. Students at H.D. Woodson Senior High School in Northeast were let out at 11:30 a.m. after a frozen water pipe burst, said system spokesman John C. White. The school will reopen this morning.

Parts of Drew Elementary School in Northeast, Beers Elementary School in Southeast and Watkins Elementary School in Southeast also were without heat, White said. They remain open.

Numerous reports were received in the District of frozen pipes in houses, authorities said. Water, apparently from a broken main, bubbled for hours last night from a manhole on at Second and D Streets SE Capitol Hill, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, the city's Office of Community Relations and Services has sent teams in each ward to knock on doors in search of residents who might not have heat.

Washington Gas said last week that service to about 800 District customers has been stopped because of lack of payment. More than 80 lack electricity, Pepco said.

Debra Daniels, a spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services, said there are vans circling the city most of the day with blankets, clothing and warm drinks.

Residents are urged to call the hypothermia hotline at 1-800-535-7252 about those needing help to get to a city shelter. The city also offers financial help for utility bills for the eligible. Residents can contact the Energy Hotline at 202-673-6750 to make an appointment to apply.

In Montgomery County, spokeswoman Mary Anderson said two Rockville shelters would be open during the day as well as the evening. Progress Place, a day center for the homeless in Silver Spring, also has extended its hours to give overnight shelter.

In other counties, such as Prince George's, Anne Arundel and Howard, officials worked with churches to provide emergency shelter for the homeless during the colder months.

Anne Arundel spokeswoman Rhonda Wardlaw said libraries and malls have agreed to be warming stations. In winter Prince George's offers the Warm Nights Program -- a 12-hour overnight shelter for homeless individuals and families -- from November through March.

Alexandria officials also were extending the hours of the city's emergency winter sheltering program, which operates out of two homeless shelters and several churches.

The Prince William winter shelter in Woodbridge has been at capacity for the past few nights, and staff members were trying yesterday to free up space by relocating single women to the Hilda Barg shelter. "We try to squeeze as many people in as we can on these severely cold nights," said Kay Ackerman, a county social services official.

Staff writers Lori Aratani, Daniel de Vise, Annie Gowen, V. Dion Haynes, Tom Jackman, Nick Miroff, Philip Rucker, Jamie Stockwell, Lena H. Sun, Martin Weil and Yolanda Woodlee contributed to this report.