- The Washington Times - Saturday, October 29, 2011

A rare pre-Halloween snow fell on much of the D.C. area early Saturday, coating roofs and cars and dusting trees that have not yet shed their leaves.

The storm, which accounted for up to 1.5 inches of accumulation in some of the outer D.C. suburbs, resulted in few accidents or power outages and was expected to move past the region by late afternoon. But temperatures around the region were hovering around the freezing mark Saturday afternoon and were expected to remain there into Sunday.

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for the D.C. area until 8 p.m. Saturday, and a winter storm warning was in effect until 6 p.m. for Frederick County in Maryland and Loudoun and northern Fauquier counties in Virginia. A freeze warning was in effect for most of the region until 9 a.m. Sunday.

The slushy conditions led some jurisdictions to deploy snow-emergency equipment, and a handful of minor accidents were reported. The conditions required de-icing at Washington Dulles International Airport beginning at about 8:20 a.m., while Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport started de-icing planes at about 1:30 p.m.

The mix of sleet and snow that fell on the District was not expected to provide significant accumulation, but outside the D.C. area, the snow was more intense. The Frostburg area was expected to 8 or 9 inches from the storm, while the area along the Blue Ridge Mountains between Hagerstown and Frederick was also expected to get significant snowfall.

The dusting was expected to fall short of the 2.2 inches recorded in D.C. in October 1925, a record for the month in the nation’s capital.

The wintry weather caused flight delays at the major airports that serve New York City as the storm moved though the East Coast. Snow also toppled trees and a few power lines in eastern Pennsylvania.

By Wednesday, high temperatures were expected to be in the 60s, according to the National Weather Service.

• This article is based in part on wire service reports

• Matthew Cella can be reached at mcella@washingtontimes.com.

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