Blizzard warning | Latest forecast | Radar | Live news updates | Watch the storm live | Power outage tracker | What does two feet of snow look like? | Photo gallery  *** D.C. area forecast: Blizzard rages today, ending tonight after giant snowfall ***  4:10 p.m. update: Reagan National Airport, D.C.’s official observing location, reports a storm total of 17.0 inches as of 4 p.m. This puts this storm, Snowzilla, in 6th place among D.C.’s top 10 biggest storms, passing the Blizzard of 2003, which dropped 16.7 inches. It is poised to move further up the list.  [Where Snowzilla fits into D.C.’s top 10 snowstorms]  4:02 p.m. update: D.C. (Reagan National) reports heavy snow and blowing snow, winds gusting to 39 mph and visibility of 0.25 miles at 4 p.m. If this persists for another hour, true blizzard conditions will have been achieved.  3:57 p.m. update: Look at the satellite (top) and radar (bottom) presentation of this storm. It’s just massive and isn’t done with us yet.  3:38 p.m. update: “This looks to last four more hours,” says Capital Weather Gang winter weather expert on this current blast of heavy snow and strong winds. With snowfall rates of 1-2 inches an hour, you can do the math of how much more snow is possible. Lighter snow should follow before the storm ends in the 8-11 p.m. window.  3:30 p.m. update: Pretty incredible snow totals not just in the D.C. area but into the Northeast was well. These are an hour old and totals have probably increased 1-2 inches since!  3:26 p.m. update: Crazy near-white-out conditions in downtown Washington as viewed from Washington Post:  3:20 p.m. update: The following locations in Virginia and Maryland report an astounding 30 inches or more of snow…  Md.: Parkville (33″), Olney (30″), Point of Rocks (31″), Jefferson – Frederick Co. (40″), Germantown (30″)  Va.: Brambleton (32″), Haymarket (31″), Ashburn (31″), Lovettsville (32″), Hillsboro (37″), Purcellville (32″), Bristow (30″), Round Hill (31″)  3:00 p.m. update: This last phase of the storm is a knockout blow. Near whiteout conditions have overtaken much of the region. Reagan National is reporting heavy snow, winds gusting to 36 mph and just 0.13 miles of visibility at 3 p.m. Do not attempt to drive in this.  2:53 p.m. update: When does it end? Here’s a simulation from the HRRR model, which suggests in the 8-11 p.m. timeframe this evening.  One caution is that sometimes in these very wound-up storms, the snow lasts a little longer than the models predict.  2:40 p.m. update: The National Weather Service has posted a map of totals, and they are impressive. Bear in mind this map is an hour old now, but you can see the consistency of totals over 20 inches north and west of the Beltway… and these are just going to go higher.  2:20 p.m. update: In areas from I-95 and east, after an extended lull (6-8 hours), the snow is picking back up in earnest and winds are howling. Visibilities are extremely limited so do not attempt to drive in this. Across much of the region, another 3-6 inches of snow is possible and potentially more depending on how long this heavy band persists over the region.  (For our previous updates,, covering 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. today: see, Snow continues through the afternoon, winds increasing)  Jason is the Washington Post’s weather editor and Capital Weather Gang's chief meteorologist. He earned a master's degree in atmospheric science, and spent 10 years as a climate change science analyst for the U.S. government. He holds the Digital Seal of Approval from the National Weather Association.
At least several inches of additional snow along with strong winds are likely in the storm's final phase.