East side of the Capitol at night during a snowstorm: the lights are on as the Senate works late to pass the Defense appropriations bill. The Senate needs to pass the Defense appropriations bill quickly so that the Senate will have enough time to pass the Senate health care bill before Christmas.

On December 19, 2009, a large storm dumped 14 inches of snow on Washington, DC. This storm was nicknamed the "Snowpocalypse" and was the first of 3 major blizzards to hit Washington, DC, during the winter of 2009-2010. (The other 2 storms are known as "Snowmageddon" and "Snoverkill".)

At about 1:30 in the morning and again at dawn, I set out in the Snowpocalypse to photograph the Capitol. I shot most of the photos at a wide angle with my Nikon D90 and 16-85mm VR. Because my camera isn’t weather proof, I kept it wrapped in a shower cap. I removed the shower cap just briefly to reveal the lens. Unfortunately, the snow was coming down pretty hard and the wind blew the snow into my lens. As a result, you can see flare on some of the photos.

You may notice that in some of the photos you can see lights on in the Capitol. The Senate was in session all night long. The Democrats were hoping to pass the Senate version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act before Christmas.

Capitol at night with a Christmas tree during a snowstorm: the lights are on as the Senate works late to pass the Defense appropriations bill. The Senate needs to pass the Defense appropriations bill quickly so that the Senate will have enough time to pass the Senate health care bill before Christmas. Capitol at night during a snowstorm: the lights are on as the Senate works late to pass the Defense appropriations bill. The Senate needs to pass the Defense appropriations bill quickly so that the Senate will have enough time to pass the Senate health care bill before Christmas.

East front of the Capitol at sunrise during the Snowpocalypse: the lights are on and the Senate has worked all night to pass the Defense appropriations bill. The Senate needed to pass the Defense appropriations bill quickly so that the Senate would have enough time to pass the Senate version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act before Christmas.

West side of the Capitol at dawn during the Snowpocalypse. The Senate just worked all night to pass the Defense appropriations bill. The Senate needed to pass the Defense appropriations bill quickly so that the Senate would have enough time to pass the Senate version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act before Christmas. West side of the Capitol with the Christmas tree at dawn in a snowstorm. The Senate just worked all night to pass the Defense appropriations bill. The Senate needed to pass the Defense appropriations bill quickly so that the Senate would have enough time to pass the Senate health care bill before Christmas. West side of the Capitol with the Christmas tree at dawn in a snowstorm. The Senate just worked all night to pass the Defense appropriations bill. The Senate needed to pass the Defense appropriations bill quickly so that the Senate would have enough time to pass the Senate health care bill before Christmas. North side of the Capitol at sunrise during the Snowpocalypse. The Senate just worked all night to pass the Defense appropriations bill. The Senate needed to pass the Defense appropriations bill quickly so that the Senate would have enough time to pass the Senate version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act before Christmas.

Park north of the Capitol. 14 inches of snow accumulated in one day.