While Saturday’s nor’easter snowstorm pummeled New York City and parts of New England, the Washington, D.C., area managed to escape the storm relatively unscathed.

Snowfall totals ranged between eight and 14 inches in the metro region, though nearby Columbia, Md., reported a total of 21 inches.

After a relatively mild January, the storm proved that winter can still make its presence known, prompting District Department of Transportation workers to implement plans to clear roadways for onday’s rush hour.

DDOT spokesman Bill Rice said the agency’s rapid response to the snowfall was well-received by the District’s residents.

“By our own internal standards and judging by the reaction from the media, I’d say we did well,” Rice said. “We had 200 pieces of equipment pre-stationed and salting the roadways before the snow began to fall – snow was melting as soon as it hit the ground. Our crews plowed and salted during and after the storm. We still have some crews out there today in the residential areas.”

Karen Frank, vice president for facilities and student housing, said students only needed to look out the window or walk across campus to assess the university’s response to the snowstorm. Crews remained on campus throughout the weekend in anticipation of the storm, she said.

“Although the snow came later than at first predicted, vehicles and equipment were readied and the staff kept up with the snow and then the ice,” Frank said. “Staff drove snow plows, walked behind sidewalk sweepers and shoveled and swept by hand.”

With the facilities crew working rapidly to keep campus streets clear, Senior Parents’ Weekend and other weekend activities were able to continue as scheduled, Frank added.

Campus life did not proceed entirely uninterrupted, however.

Director of Bookstores Jim Kuhlman said that the university bookstore in the Leavey Center remained closed on Sunday due to a shortage of staff able to make it to work through the weather.

Many of those affected by the store’s closure were members of the class of 2006 and their parents, who were on campus to pick up graduation caps and gowns over parents’ weekend.

“What we are doing is sending out a mailing to all the seniors’ parents offering them free shipping on any items they wanted to buy from the bookstore but could not on Sunday,” Kuhlman said.

The bookstore’s closure was not the only problem the storm caused for parents over the weekend. Sulay Alvarenga (MSB ’06) said that her parents had to stay an extra night at their hotel as a result of the snow.

For some students, however, the only trouble created by the weekend’s snowstorm was its length – the snowfall wasn’t heavy enough. The university had classes as scheduled yesterday.

“The only inconvenience that I see is that I still have to take my French test on Monday,” Richard Kerby (COL ’08) said.

Other students continued to revel in the weekend’s winter wonderland, engaging in anything from snowball fights and touch football on Copley Lawn to sledding down the hill between Dahlgren Chapel and Village C West.

“It was nice to finally get some winter weather,” Anna Park (COL ’08) said.