Shoppers jammed aisles and emptied stores of milk, bread and shovels ahead of a monster snow storm that's bearing down on the Mid-Atlantic.

Forecasters predict 30 inches or more of snow for the nation's capital.

The federal government is sending workers home early, and subways are running light as people are staying home.

The National Weather Service says the region's second snow storm in less than two months could be "extremely dangerous." Heavy, wet snow and strong winds will make travel hazardous as the storm gains strength into Friday night.

Two highways deaths are blamed on snow as the storm started in Virginia. State police say a father and his son died after being hit by a tractor-trailer as they tried to help a driver who had wrecked in snow on Interstate 81.

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