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WASHINGTON (AP) — A light dusting of snow that stuck drivers in icy gridlock for hours in and around Washington served an ominous prelude to the massive blizzard bearing down Thursday on the nation's capital and threatening the eastern United States. Less than an inch of snow fell Wednesday night in the District of Columbia, Maryland and northern Virginia, but that was enough for roads to immediately freeze over. Efforts to lay salt ahead of the storm proved ineffective, and most major school districts in the region either closed Thursday or opened late. "We are very sorry for (our) inadequate response," District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said. "We should have been out earlier, with more resources." For people already scrambling to prepare for up to 2 feet of heavy wet snow, the trouble caused by a mere dusting provided more reason to worry about what the National Weather Service is calling a "potentially crippling winter storm" expected to blanket the Mid-Atlantic region starting Friday afternoon and continuing through Sunday. Smaller amounts of snow are expected for New York, Boston and other northern cities, but forecasters warned of high winds, power outages and coastal flooding up and down the Interstate 95 corridor. Tonya Woods, 42, a Metro station manager, said she had a much longer-than-usual drive home to suburban Clinton, Maryland, on Wednesday night. She worries that Friday will be much worse. "It's going to be dangerous out there," Woods said. "That's why I say they should shut things down." Bowser announced that schools will close pre-emptively on Friday, and the city government will close at noon, hours ahead of the heavy snow according to Thursday's forecasts. The federal government has yet to announce a decision on office closures. In Virginia, Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued a state of emergency, warning of travel disruptions and power outages and saying people should "take the threat of this storm seriously." Crews are treating roads ahead of the weekend storm, but Virginia transportation officials urged drivers to stay home until the storm passes in any case. A blizzard watch was issued starting Friday in the Baltimore and Washington metropolitan areas, and the heaviest amounts, up to 2 feet, are forecast for areas west and southwest of the capital. Washington could see 15 to 20 inches, Philadelphia could see 12 to 18, and New York City and Long Island could see 8 to 10, said meteorologist Patrick Burke. Along the coasts of Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, the snow could change to sleet and widespread but moderate flooding was expected, according to the service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. The weather service issued blizzard and winter storm watches for parts of Maryland, Washington, Virginia, West Virginia and Arkansas. The strongest winds and potentially life-threatening blizzard conditions are expected Friday night through Saturday night, making travel limited or impossible. All major airlines have issued waivers for travel over the weekend, allowing passengers to rebook onto earlier or later flights to avoid the storms. The airports included vary by airline but include some cities in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia all the way up the coast to New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Some Maryland road crews got stuck in lengthy backups Wednesday night, slowing their progress, state Department of Transportation spokesman Charlie Gischlar said. Major delays continued through the night there and in northern Virginia, where minor accidents caused gridlock and ramp closures. Virginia police responded to 767 crashes over a 24-hour period ending early Thursday, and two troopers were involved in accidents, spokeswoman Corinne Geller said. Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer McCord described "a long night for a lot of people trying to get home." Capital-area roads were mostly treated and clear for Thursday's morning rush hour, but some elevated roads, ramps and side streets remained icy, forcing drivers to inch along. Quentin Norman, who manages a gas station and convenience store in Capitol Heights, Maryland, said his commute home Wednesday took an hour instead of the usual 15 minutes. The traffic and storm "kind of took us by surprise," he said. "Everybody was talking about the weekend." Chrissy Wiginton, 35, who works as an editor at the Smithsonian, said her walk to work across the National Mall on Thursday morning raised questions about how well-prepared the city and federal government were. She said it looked like nobody had tried to clear sidewalks in front of federal buildings. "I was really surprised by how bad the sidewalks were," she said. "It was really icy." One major event in Washington was still on: the March for Life, an annual anti-abortion rally that's usually one of the largest events on the National Mall. It will be held Friday, the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision. ___ Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko in Washington, Kristen de Groot in Philadelphia and John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, and AP Airlines Writer Scott Mayerowitz in New York contributed to this story.

A light dusting causes chaos as a massive blizzard looms