Winter storm on the move, DC braces

CHICAGO - Residents in and around Washington, D.C. are bracing for possible power outages, as a storm dumps some wet, heavy snow on the region.

Even before the worst of the snow arrived, the federal government announced that its offices in the Washington area would be closed today. Many major school systems are also shut down.

The storm is expected to dump 5 to 11 inches of snow in Washington and Baltimore by tonight. Officials say power outages are the biggest potential problem from the storm.

It earlier delivered about 10 inches of snow to the Chicago area, causing more than 1,100 flights to be canceled at the city's two major airports. Schools were closed in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.

The Jersey Shore, which is still recovering from Superstorm Sandy, is preparing for another possible hit later today and tomorrow. The storm should bring rain and snow, and possible flooding in areas where dunes were washed away. Many damaged homes are still sitting open and exposed. The area hardest-hit by Sandy could get up to 2 to 4 inches of snow.

Notable March snowstorms

• March 1, 2009
BWI had a seasonal total of 3.3 inches at the end of Feb., then was hit with 4.7 inches total inches on March 1-2. The amount of snow was a record for the date.

• Superstorm of '93
It's the most famous storm in recent history -- a storm that brought a range of 1-3 feet of the white stuff to central Maryland and record low pressure to BWI. Other than the big storm, it was a quiet winter season. The storm doubled the seasonal amount in the area, and the storm ranked 5th on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale. The storm sent snow to areas from Florida to Maine.

• Ash Wednesday 1962
Falling 51 years ago on March 6-8. The storm dropped a daily record of 10 inches on Baltimore’s BWI on March 6. The storm also brougth 60 mph winds and 25 ft waves hitting Ocean City.

• Palm Sunday Blizzard of 1942
The storm holds the rank as the sixth all time big snow storm in the history of the Baltimore area, dating back to 1880. It dropped more than 20 inches of snow across five counties. The first day of the storm broke the all time inch count for a snow storm in March.