Scenes From the First Major Winter Storm of 2025

A day of momentous election certification and fraught memories in Washington, D.C., began on Monday with a quiet coating of snow blanketing the National Mall and softening the monuments. The snow fell thickly through the morning and was expected to continue into the night, bringing most activity around the Mid-Atlantic to a muffled halt.

The first major winter storm of the season rolled in from the Midwest, where it had buried parts of the middle of the United States in more than a foot of snow. In some places on Monday, the snow mixed with sleet and freezing rain, icing roads and leaving tens of thousands without power. Flights and trains were canceled or delayed by the hundreds along some of the nation’s busiest travel routes, while state police agencies reported hundreds of accidents on the highways.

The storm is expected to head off into the Atlantic Ocean overnight, but with frigid temperatures forecast throughout the week, the snow should stick around for a while. For now, authorities have urged people to stay home and keep off the roads. Children, many of whom had been scheduled to return to school after winter break, did not object.