Grim Washingtonians Miss a Great Storm

When it comes to politics, Washington has the toughest people in the business. When it comes to a few snowflakes, Washington turns to Jell-O. The nation’s capital just has not learned how to enjoy a good storm.

The stories are true. Washingtonians panic when a few inches of snow falls, and for good reason. They do not get that many storms every winter, and they are not accustomed to driving on snow and ice. The situation is much as it is on a Los Angeles freeway during the first rainfall after a dry spell lasting several months.

But there are factors at work that elevate capital storms to superpower heights. One reason is that the national press corps has nothing else to do when a storm shuts down the city and tends to run amok writing weather stories. With a good weather story, restraint flies before the snow-driven wind.

One report Monday had the White House looking whiter than usual, but also more forlorn, with only a few lonely security guards standing in front. In fact, there never are more than a few security guards standing in front of the White House.

This accounting of the storm assured Americans, however, that it was business as usual at the White House with President Reagan at the helm. The President, of course, only had to walk downstairs to get to his office. But it hardly could have been business as usual, because a number of White House aides never got to work.

Another report, issued by a news agency after the snow of the morning already had come to a stop, said as much as 14 inches was expected before the “blizzard” came to an end. There was talk of zero-range wind chill, although the temperature was fairly moderate all day--especially after the sun came out.

There were grim stories of people suffering cabin fever. One woman became so desperate that she actually cleaned both her attic and her basement. Really, though, once people got their cars off the streets there was little harm that the storm could do.

Washington should relax and learn to appreciate a good storm.

They called it the worst storm in years, but actually it was one of the best. This was a lovely storm, and never of blizzard proportions. Washington is always a beautiful city, but rarely as beautiful as when snowflakes are swirling over the lighted government buildings and monuments. The cold had its beneficial effect, since the snow was fine and light and brushed off easily. It was neat snow--not wet and slushy and messy. It was cold enough, but not too cold.

Last Friday and this Monday provided people with the rare opportunity of staying home without feeling guilty about it. They could shovel snow and get some needed exercise, or build a snowman or throw snowballs or get out the sled. Afterward they could come inside for hot soup or maybe even a toddy. What better way to spend a snowy afternoon than to curl up in front of the fireplace with a book?

If you liked, you could get out the cross-country skis and glide down the Mall. Imagine being able to ski from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, passing the Washington Monument en route. And no crowds. The mounds of snow on park benches and fences became white sculptures of infinite variety and fineness. Icicles graced the street lights along Pennsylvania Avenue and the eaves of the old Georgian houses on Jackson Place. It was a photographers’ wonderland.

What a gift: a whole day unexpectedly at your disposal, a blank slate on which to draw anything that you wanted, a day that time forgot. It was one of the best storms in years.