A fierce winter storm that pummeled the Midwest, snarled traffic and caused hundreds of flight cancellations, pounded the nation’s capital Wednesday, turning roads into a slippery mess and forcing schools and federal offices to close. The storm system threatened to dump four to eight inches of snow — the heaviest snowfall in Washington in two years — and prompted Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell to declared a state of emergency. "It will be a wet, heavy, gloppy snow consistent with wallpaper paste," National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro warned. More than 1,000 flights were canceled at Washington's two major airports. Snow began falling around midnight and later disrupted the morning commute, NBC Washington reported. The storm originated in Montana and moved eastward over the Ohio Valley, dumping more than six inches of snow in Chicago on Tuesday. More than 1,100 flights were canceled in and out of the city’s two airports on Tuesday, according to NBC Chicago. The storm was forecast to dump a mix of rain and snow on the New York area Wednesday, leading to as much as 2 inches of accumulation in New York City.
