Government shutdown winters tend to be cold and snowy in D.C.

[FSogol]

""It’s a common utterance that “hot air inside the Beltway” does everything from causing local heat spikes in summer to producing the D.C. snow hole in winter.

Joke tellers love it, while most locals roll their eyes.

However, the saying may hold a grain of truth. Let’s at least momentarily assume that hot air is cast away from the city in a shutdown, causing a ripple effect that ultimately impacts winter.

Example? The last time the federal government shut down in 1995-96, 46 inches of snow paralyzed D.C.! It was one of the snowiest winters on record.""

Whole article from Ian Livingstone at WAPO here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/10/02/government-shutdown-winters-tend-to-be-cold-and-snowy-in-d-c/