The D.C. region has accumulated more than a foot of snow in the first 12 hours of a winter blizzard with more to come, making it unlikely residents will be able to leave their houses anytime soon.
So to ease that cabin fever, without braving the cold, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan has a solution.
He’s hooked up a live stream from the balcony of the speaker’s office at the U.S. Capitol. The video feed, which can be found on the speaker’s website, will be running all weekend to give viewers a glimpse of the snow-encased National Mall.
The Wisconsin Republican announced the live stream on Friday.
“Here’s something from Washington, DC, that won’t make you want to throw your phone across the room. No speeches. No politicians. No media pundits. It’s just a pure, uninterrupted livestream of the snow falling on the National Mall, as seen from the Speaker’s office in the U.S. Capitol,” a posting on the speaker’s website reads. “Give your Netflix a break and check out the snowfall for a few minutes. Or a few hours. It’ll be here all weekend long.”
So far, results from the live stream have been mixed - overnight no lighting was in place so the screen was entirely dark and by mid-morning Saturday near white out conditions limited visibility as well.
Mr. Ryan is out of town during the blizzard.
“I live in Wisconsin, so I’m home with my family,” he tweeted Saturday. “I just DJ in Washington.”
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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