Icy winds and near-zero visibility turned the US capital into an arctic-like ghost town Wednesday, it's snow blown streets empty except for a hardy few and the occasional foolhardy driver.

The winter wallop made it the snowiest season ever here, but not snowy enough to stop Rob, an investment banker, who ran -- or rather slid -- to work in the nearly impassable streets.

"I don't have a choice," he said, his hat pulled down and his windbreaker shielding him from powerful gusts of up to 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour that blew the snow horizontally.

"If you watch what has happened in finance over the last year, people who are lucky to have jobs even have to run today on Wall Street. So I have to go and take care of business."

The US capital vanished under a thick white blanket, closing businesses and government offices and grinding transport to a halt in its wake.

Scattered cleanup crews did their best to remove the heavy white stuff from the entrances of offices and hotels, with the help of shovels or snowplows. They braved the elements, only to have another dusting cover cleared areas within minutes.

Conditions were so treacherous that Washington temporarily removed snowplows from the roads as strong gusts of winds created whiteout conditions, only worsening the capital's wintry gridlock.

After trekking through two miles (three kilometers) of snow, Rob, who is also a football player, arrived at work. His co-workers did not make it.

Two streets away, Ana Rendon was stuck at her hotel. She ventured out of the revolving door just long enough to snap a photograph.

"It's awful. I just learned that my flight to return to Colombia was canceled. I will have to spend the night here," said Rendon, a Colombian native who works at the Inter-American Development Bank.

"I arrived in Washington on Sunday. I was scheduled for a meeting at the IDB yesterday, but it was canceled," she added, fascinated by the wintry spectacle of what locals have dubbed "Snoverkill" and "Say it ain't Snow."

It was the second massive snowstorm to pound the US mid-Atlantic region in less than a week, striking before snow-weary residents and harried commuters finished digging themselves out from an avalanche of up to three feet (91 centimeters) of snow over the weekend.

In the nearly empty lobby of the huge Capital Hilton hotel in the heart of Washington, Jon Heezen waited patiently for the storm to pass.

"I was supposed to fly back home in Minnesota on Tuesday afternoon but my flight has been canceled," said Heezen, 38, as he folded his newspaper.

"They told us we could have a flight tomorrow morning but if it lasts like that, I doubt it will be tomorrow."

He came to Washington to lobby Congress on behalf of the American Student Dental Association, but planned meetings with lawmakers were canceled.

Congressional hearings were also postponed and the House of Representatives put off all votes until the week of February 22, when it returns from the President's Day holiday.

Heezen looked on as a snowplow made its way down the street.

"I'm from Minnesota, and we've had this much snow already," he said. "It's not that bad, it's just that they don't have enough equipment here."

Nearby, a businessman paced up and down the lobby nervously, his cell phone glued to his hear.

"My flight for Toronto has been canceled and all my meetings today have been canceled, so I can't hold them," said an irritated Carlos Gonzalez. "I have work to do."

Outside, a photographer from The Washington Examiner, a local newspaper, took a few shots of the entombed, nearly impassable streets. But he was not out for long, retreating very quickly to his warm offices.

Hardly a soul could be seen in the usually bustling area around the White House. Ghostly silhouettes could be made out on the roof of the stately building, clearing packs of snow to prevent dangerous accumulation.

The premises were largely deserted, although some offices remained open and operational. Secret Service personnel abandoned their usual posts to hunker down in their cars.

Only rare, brave drivers dared venture outside, along with a few bundled up pedestrians.

A sport utility vehicle equipped with a snowplow and salt distribution maneuvered in the alleys across from the building's portico, desperately trying to remove a heavy powdery cover.