Scott Brown was sworn in today, ending the Democrats' 60-vote majority in the Senate. Barack Obama blasted anti-gay legislation in Uganda at the annual prayer breakfast, which is organized by a secretive Christian group that is thought to be tied to the Uganda initiative. The stock market plunged, and jobless statistics to be released Friday are sending fears of another decline tomorrow. Ten Americans now face kidnapping charges in Haiti. And Toyota's Prius, of all cars, has a brake problem.

But none of that really matters in Washington. Everyone here is focused on the coming apocalypse -- snowfall that may start as early as 11 a.m. Friday and end sometime Saturday and leave as much as 24 inches on the ground.

That's a lot of snow for anywhere, but for Washington and environs, that's really a lot. The joke around here is that a couple of inches paralyzes the city. And this will be the second double-digit snow storm of the winter — the first one dropped 16 inches Dec. 19. Snow fell again on Jan. 30 and then again just this past Tuesday.

How bad is the coming storm expected to be? If you've ever been in South Florida as a hurricane approaches, then you've seen snowfall preparations here. Without the tidal surge and category warnings.

Local television news is nothing but snow coverage. They're out of snow shovels at the ACE Hardware. Schools are going to be closed. Workers have been told not to come to work. The Metro subway system has already let it be known that trains will stop running above ground when snowfall reaches 8 inches. And at the Whole Foods at 14th and P in the District the crowds were so great, the news crew couldn't get inside because the store was letting new shoppers in only when an equal number of shoppers left.

Channel 5 even has already scheduled its post-storm coverage — 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. (Live coverage starts at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow).

Needless to say the repeated snow storms have blown the snow removal budgets of the District and its suburbs in Virginia and Maryland. But it's also shown the effectiveness of Adrian Fenty, D.C.'s mayor. In past years, the District has been as well known as its neighbors for not being able to cope with snowfall.

But surprise, when the first big snow happened in December, the District's streets were cleared quickly, while the streets in the better-heeled suburbs remained impassable. That was true, too, for the storm earlier this week. We'll see how it goes with Storm No. 3. Loose office talk -- people in the District will be fine, but anyone who has to come in from Virginia and Maryland, well, don't bother.

Of course, this hasn't really helped Fenty any. The Washington Post published a poll on Sunday, noting that District residents believe conditions have vastly improved, but Fenty's popularity is at its lowest point ever.

There's a lesson there.