The Snowquester — a.k.a. "Saturn" — is finally upon us. Weather forecasters expect 6 and 12 inches of snow to pummel the D.C. region today, for which the federal government has preemptively closed all of its Washington offices. (Which, incidentally, will grant White House Press Secretary Jay Carney a rare respite from the White House Press Corps — and canceled a Congressional hearing on global warming.) While the storm has already begun hitting portions of Virginia, it hasn't really dumped much on D.C. (Yet.) As you'll see below, the effect is a bit disconcerting for those expecting a dramatic weather event.

Update, 3:10 p.m.: The National Weather Service has cancelled its storm watch for D.C.:

JUST IN -- The National Weather Service has canceled the winter storm warning for Washington DC.

— Vaughn Sterling/CNN (@vplus) March 6, 2013

The Washington Post reports that the capital city will see about 1-2 inches of snow in total.

Scenes from a (less than snowy) D.C.:

Lots of media waiting for Mayor Gray to talk about what so far are only wet city streets. twitter.com/timcraigpost/s…

— Tim Craig (@timcraigpost) March 6, 2013

Dear Snowquester - thanks for the awesome commute to work twitter.com/jamiedupree/st…

— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) March 6, 2013

Thank you late starting snow storm for zero traffic downtown. twitter.com/alexis_levinso…

— Alexis Levinson (@alexis_levinson) March 6, 2013

UPDATE: it's snowing. twitter.com/RyanLizza/stat…

— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) March 6, 2013

Completely snowed in, and neglected to buy cookies.yfrog.com/odzy2fyzj

— Kevin W. Glass (@KevinWGlass) March 6, 2013

Further out, however, the snow appears to be piling up quickly:

RT @martinmmc: Over 15 inches of snow in Front Royal, VA. This dealership is buried! #vawx #snowquester #Saturn twitter.com/MartinMMC/stat…

— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) March 6, 2013

Front porch view in Winchester, VA. snow still falling! Stay safe! @wincva @winstarva #snowquester @tv3winchester twitter.com/FlyByCarter/st…

— Stephen Carter (@FlyByCarter) March 6, 2013

Winter wonderland! #snowquester twitter.com/capsfandave/st…

— David Borton (@capsfandave) March 6, 2013

Pic from #Harrisonburg #snowquester #ABC7snow #weather #snow twitter.com/alliecat827/st…

— allison (@alliecat827) March 6, 2013

But it looks like the snow is finally coming into D.C. One resident captured this scene at the Capitol:

Let it Snow!... over the Capitol Building. Great pic... #Saturn #Snowquester twitter.com/cesarmusitani/…

— Cesar Musitani (@cesarmusitani) March 6, 2013

Bigger:

Stay tuned, D.C. 

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J.K. Trotter