Schools in Maryland and Virginia were let out early Friday as a late blast of winter weather moved across the region.

Students in Frederick County and Loudoun County were given the long weekend as the area was battered with a mix of rain and snow and temperatures dropped into the 30s. The cold followed a gorgeous week with temperatures that had soared into the 70s.

“It’s unusual for this time of year,” said David Manning, a warning meteorologist coordinator with the National Weather Service. “This is an unseasonably cold spell.”

Snow was falling in western Maryland Friday morning and was expected to continue through the night. Loudoun and Frederick counties were under winter storm warnings through Friday night, while Fairfax and Montgomery counties were under a winter weather advisory.

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Roughly 2 to 4 inches of snow were expected overnight, according to the National Weather Service.

Rain pelted the District Friday, with a flood warning in effect for the city and Northern Virginia until 11 p.m. Friday.

The winter weather, which struck throughout the mid-Atlantic and the northeast, wreaked havoc on air travel. Hundreds of flights were canceled, including Delta shuttle service between Reagan National Airport and New York.

Friday’s storm and this week’s schizophrenic weather and dampened the spirits of some District workers.

“I’m not crazy about this rain,” said Bob Beaulieu, the owner of a downtown restaurant. “I’ll be glad when the weather stabilizes a little bit more. I don’t like it being hot one day and cold the next.”

dfrancis@dcexminer.com