Giant snowball fight in Washington DC winter storm
In a nod to the coronavirus Omicron variant, the event was dubbed the "Battle of Snomicron" by the Washington DC Snowball Fight Association
Washington DC residents engaged in a fierce snowball fight on Monday (3 January), making the best of a storm that unleashed heavy snow on the nation's capital.
Dozens of snowball warriors split into two sides on the National Mall and pummeled each other with snowballs.
In a nod to the coronavirus Omicron variant, the event was dubbed the "Battle of Snomicron" by the Washington DC Snowball Fight Association, a Facebook group that organises regular snowball fights.
A winter storm unleashed snowfall and strong winds throughout much of the US Southeast and mid-Atlantic on Monday, forcing federal offices and schools to close, grounding aeroplanes and knocking out power for thousands of people.
Forecasts called for 4-8 inches (12-25 cm) of snow and wind up to 40 miles per hour (64 km per hour) in the region's first blizzard of the season, according to the National Weather Service. Severe weather warnings were issued from the Carolinas to New Jersey.
The inclement weather forced federal government offices to close in Washington, while dozens of schools across the region cancelled or delayed the start of school.