Science

An inch of snow is already causing headaches in Washington DC — here’s what that looks like

Julia Calderone

2016-01-21T20:28:00Z

As an icy appetizer for the big storm that's projected to hit Washington, DC this weekend, the city got a one-inch dusting the evening of Jan. 20.

That mere inch of snow was enough to snarl traffic and cause dozens of car accidents.

While the storm system was much weaker than the monster that's projected to hit on Friday — DC may get more than a foot over the weekend — people are already dealing with a mess of a commute that will likely bleed into the effects of this weekend's storm.

Here's what life is like in DC as they prepare for the impending snowfall.

The snow began to fall in DC during rush hour on the evening of Jan. 20.

While the region only saw an inch of snow that evening ...

It was enough to cause massive traffic jams and dozens of car accidents thanks to slippery roads and unprepared drivers.

Source: Vox

Icy roads and freezing temperatures prompted the closure of several schools and universities on Jan. 21.

Source: Washington Post

And workers plowed snow from the front of the White House the next morning.

Forecasters are predicting much more snow for this weekend.

Some reports say that Washington DC could get up to 30 inches of snow by the end of the weekend

And wind gusts up to 50 mph may whip through the region.

Because of these predictions, a blizzard warning is in effect from 3 p.m. Jan. 22 to 6 a.m. Jan. 24.

Source: Google Public Alerts

So if you're in the area, now's the time to stock up on some firewood and snacks and load up your Netflix queue.

Weather