It's snowing / 雪が降っている / 下雪

In any language, it came as something of a surprise this morning. Sure, the forecast called for snow in some of the counties surrounding the District of Columbia, but the weather prognosticators on the local TV news assured us yesterday evening that Washington and its immediate vicinity wouldn't receive any of the white stuff. So I wasn't expecting to see this sight from our apartment balcony when I woke up this morning:

Admittedly, it wasn't much, but it was probably the most snow this area has seen all season. According to this evening's news report, it was the latest snowfall in the D.C. area since 1990. Unfortunately, it all fell too late to have a snow day declared, so I had to go to FSI this morning as usual. I don't usually drive there, so I wasn't inconvenienced:

The grounds of the National Foreign Affairs Training Center looked better with a light coating, and Ben Franklin didn't seem too put out:

Suburban Arlington was a lot more scenic than the mean streets of downtown Washington, where I had to go this afternoon to pick up visas for my wife and daughter. There, it was just raining, with all the snow having already melted away. 

Meanwhile, on the home front, the snow didn't put a damper on Amber's day. As you can see from the pictures below, she took advantage of the weather to enjoy the start of her spring break:

I would've gladly traded places with her.