A Storm I’ll Never Forget: Washington D.C. Dec. 2009

I’ve told this story many times and with all the current social media posts from friends in the D.C. and Northern Virginia area preparing for a significant snowstorm this week, I’ll share it again.  I lived in the Northern Virginia area for a number of years and already experienced the mass chaos that occurs when there is a chance of snow or even rain in the forecast.  The entire area basically shuts down and with this history you would think the reaction and prepa
ation would improve, but as far as I can see from the latest news reports, it hasn’t.  ( An inch of snow, icy roads, unleash 9 hours of traffic chaos across D.C. region ; Virginia and D.C. declare state of emergency in response to snow, roads recovering from morning mess )

The list could go on.

 

My story

In 2009 the area was hit with 15 inches of snow, which was unusual and the city and towns could not handle it.  As a photographer, I wanted to capture images of D.C. in this snowy state, so I bundled up and took the metro in from Northern VA.  My story could have ended there and you could view my images from the day, but the photo adventure took a turn when the metro service back to VA stopped due to the accumulation of snow.  I was still in D.C. and the ONLY way back to VA was to walk.  It was so cold and windy that my camera actually stopped working temporarily while I crossed the 14th street bridge back to VA.

So as I wait to view images from friends and media on this weeks storms, here is a look back to my adventure.  And to all my friends in DC/VA stay safe and good luck!