Heavy Snow to Hit Washington on Jan. 6, Congresswoman Issues Warning

The U.S. Capitol beyond snow-covered trees in Washington on Jan. 19, 2024. Pedro Ugarte/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C., could face a significant snowstorm on Monday into early Tuesday and one lawmaker signaled it could potentially impact the certification of President-elect Donald Trump’s November win.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a winter storm warning for Virginia, Maryland, and surrounding areas starting Sunday and lasting until Tuesday morning.

For the District of Columbia, according to the NWS, 5 to 10 inches of snow and sleet accumulations are forecast, with up to 12 inches predicted in some isolated areas. Small amounts of ice are also expected in some areas, the agency said.

“Snowfall rates between 1 to 3 inches per hour are possible between midnight and mid-morning Monday. A second round of heavy snow is likely Monday evening before precipitation ends Monday night,” stated the NWS.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) shared a photo of one of the NWS weather advisories on X over the weekend.

“Jan 6th at 1:00 pm Congress must certify President Trump’s historic election,” Greene (R-Ga.) wrote.

She said the region “has a winter storm warning for Jan 5-7th expecting possibly a foot of snow. Many members of congress left town this weekend even though they were told to stay. I’m here and will walk to the Capitol if I have to.”

The mayor of the district, Muriel Bowser, said in a statement that she declared an emergency over the snowstorm, which will last until Tuesday. Starting Sunday night, she warned, “vehicles still parked along snow emergency routes will be relocated” by the city.

The storm system is expected to cause travel-related havoc across the United States, spanning from Kansas to the Mid-Atlantic states. Well over a dozen states, including all of Maryland, West Virginia, and Delaware are under winter storm warnings.

Aside from the weather alert, several senators said that U.S. Capitol officials will be prepared during the congressional certification on Jan. 6 and that there will likely be minimal problems.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told CNN on Sunday that there “were dramatic changes” made to security in Washington and the Capitol following the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“[We] made 103 recommendations. And my job as chair of the Rules Committee was to make sure they got done,” Klobuchar said.

“We have, as you know, a new police chief, increased morale, many hundreds of more officers, and we have a plan and a strategy in place,” she said. “I feel very strongly that we have made major shifts.”

In 2021, “we literally had cops that couldn’t get at the riot gear,” Klobuchar said. “It was locked on a bus. A four-hour delay to call in the National Guard because of some rule that had been in place that created a phone tree.”

She noted that the “Architect of the Capitol, who is kind of the boss of a bunch of the employees, wasn’t even there.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told reporters that he believes the certification “will almost be a nonevent.”

There have been no calls among congressional Democrats to contest the certification on Jan. 6, despite some objections made after Republican presidential wins in past elections. Some lawmakers noted that it was because Trump won the Nov. 5 contest decisively.

“I think it’s safe to say that even the Democrats heard from the American people that this is what they wanted,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) told reporters.

In the House, several lawmakers suggested there would be no issues on Jan. 6.

“This time, I think the win was so decisive that it just—for good or ill depending on which side you’re on—it’s stifled most of that,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), a lawmaker who led objections to President Joe Biden’s certification four years ago.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.