Utilities Crews on High Alert for Later Today

"Oh, my God!" cried Stephanie Gordon, a management assistant at the Treasury Department, as she approached the escalator in the mobbed Federal Triangle station. "This is ridiculous."

Many at the station said that the federal government should have staggered departure times.

"They're going to have everybody on the trains and everybody on roads at the same time," said Cynthia Sullivan, who works for the Commerce Department and was waiting for an Orange Line train. "You just got total chaos," she said.

The timing of the nasty weather seemed to surprise many of the area's big school districts, which opened schools in the morning but ordered them closed by noon. That flustered parents, who scrambled to get their children home.

At Woodlin Elementary School in Silver Spring, parents questioned the decision to open schools in the first place. Some said they received notice of the early dismissal an hour after the school day had started at 8:50 a.m.

"I'd much rather they close schools than do this," said Ron Hopson as he stood outside waiting for his 10-year-old son. "It was ridiculous. Why not close the school? They knew what was coming."

Schools in Montgomery, Prince George's, Fairfax, Anne Arundel, Loudoun, Arlington, Frederick, Charles and Calvert counties, among others, closed early. Administrators said it was only prudent.

"Every weatherman in the whole area had trouble predicting what to do," said Montgomery Superintendent Jerry D. Weast. "If the weather changes two to three degrees, you can go from looking like a genius to looking like the village idiot."

Federal government workers were dismissed at 2 p.m., and Metro had been alerted about an hour earlier. The decision sent Metro hurrying to get enough trains and operators to the downtown stations, officials said.

Typically, the rail system needs two to three hours to accommodate major shifts, such as a change in rush hour. Bus and train operators, who are paid hourly, must be called back to work, and rail cars must be moved into place.

"We're disappointed we didn't have more advance notice," Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. "We would have had a higher level of service out there."

Nonessential government employees in Anne Arundel and Montgomery were also dismissed early. Howard and Catholic universities closed at noon.