As DC Digs Out, a Surreal Feel

The flakes have stopped falling, but residents in the Mid-Atlantic region were faced today with the prospect of digging out of more than two feet of snow in some areas. Roads reopened but officials continued to warn residents that highways could be treacherous. Hundreds of thousands of people from Pennsylvania to New Jersey to Virginia were without power, left in the cold, and possibly without a way to watch the Super Bowl.

Most tried to make the best of the situation. "The best part is throwing snowballs at my dad," said 10-year-old Jayla Burgess in Arlington, Va. Hundreds crowded Dupont Circle in Washington, DC, for a snowball fight organized online. Skiers lapped the Reflecting Pool along the National Mall and others used the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a slope. Washington took on a surreal, almost magical feel even though it was one of the worst blizzards in the city's history. "Right now it's like the Epcot Center version of Washington," said Mary Lord, 56, a resident for some 30 years who had skied around the city. (More snowstorm stories.)