WASHINGTON - Soft white snow turned into huge chunks of ice in southern Maryland and Northern Virginia Monday night, as residents prepared for Tuesday morning's slippery commute.

For plow operator Kevin Furbush, working well into the night in Northern Virginia may just be a warm up for Tuesday. "I came out, [a]bout 8 o'clock this morning," he said. 

Furbush worked to spread sand and scoop up snow before a cul-de-sac became a circle of ice. "Tomorrow morning [is going to] be hectic," he said.

While main roads are getting a solid dose of salt Monday night, the side roads could be especially treacherous; they began icing over even before the sun set. 

"I think if they do a really good job salting tonight, it could help," said Sue Frank, an Alexandria (web | news) resident.

Horace Holmes reporting on the conditions in Southern Maryland.

In Maryland, the salt and sand trucks were out in Prince George's County Monday night where plowers there worked their third shift. The county says it has all of the major roads cleared and nearly all of the side streets.

Residents like Roger Halliburton say they are hoping they get plowed before morning. "It's [going to] be pretty cold -- [going to] be a lot of ice. Snow is going to be melting. If they don't clear the streets there will probably be a lot of accidents tomorrow," he said.

Bowie resident C.R. Hutchinson got his snow blower out to help clear out the snow for Tuesday morning. "Work hard all day -- don't mind doing a little bit more when I get home -- Bowie is full of a lot of good people like that," he said.

In Virginia, the weather was dangerous enough for the governor to declare a state of emergency, saying it's the worst widespread event to affect Virginia in eight years. There, a total of 1,200 salt trucks worked 12-hour shifts.

Schools and businesses prepared for the inclement weather Monday by altering schedules. "We've already called some people in late tomorrow. Just trying to prepare for road crews doing stuff in the morning," said Calvin Edwards, a Centreville resident.

Maryland and Virginia residents are all prepping for what they hope is winter's last stand. "March 2," laughed Frank. "Well, like they say, March can be a bit of a surprise."

Aside from some slick roads, there was also an abundance of power problems in Virginia Monday. At one point throughout the state, there were 200,000 customers impacted. In the D.C. area, only a few hundred customers are still without electricity.

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