Antarctica Starts Here.

The weather predictions are growing like the tales of Paul Bunyon in the DC metroplex as the second winter storm of the year comes rolling in. They're calling it Snowpocalypse II around here, and people have been getting ready for it for three days now. On Wednesday evening the stores were packed full of people buying groceries and snow shovels in preparation for today, and the moment a few flakes began sifting down from the ominous grey clouds most every agency in the area called a code red: if you're not security don't come in, stay warm, and stay safe. We got the message today shortly before lunchtime that Goddard was shutting down at 1300, so we wrapped things up early and headed for home shortly after 1200 local time in the hope of beating the worst of the traffic as the city emptied. While the beltway was more densely packed than usual for that time of day, it wasn't a maze of wrecked cars and panicked drivers. Looking out of the window, I'd guess we've got about three inches already and it's still coming down. About once an hour we can hear snow plows outside scraping the roads to stay ahead of the accumulation. Depending on where you are and what newswire you hit, they're predicting anywhere from twenty to thirty inches by midnight tomorrow.

HacDC has canceled tonight's Shmoocon lounge, and last evening a few hardy hackers got together for a sled-making workshop at the 'space.

If you're down this way, don't go out unless you have to. Don't risk it.