(NECN: Washington) - Officials are preparing for as much as two feet of snow in the Washington, D.C. area. A snow emergency is now in effect.
Residents around the nation's capital are stocking up on supplies.
The federal government has told workers they can take the day off as unplanned leave. Those who are working will be going home early, as federal offices close.
Airlines have canceled flights across the region, with heavy, wet snow in the forecast from Virginia and West Virginia into southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
State officials are deploying thousands of trucks and workers, and have hundreds of thousands of tons of salt standing by.
"A snow emergency is now in effect," this morning announced Mayor Adrian Fenty.
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"The D.C. government will close at 2:00," said Fenty.
