The Washington region on Sunday lurched fitfully from under one of the heaviest snowfalls in memory, with federal and local governments set to be closed on Monday, the Metro system prepared to offer severely limited service Monday, and authorities warning that it could take days for the plows to reach some residential streets, The Washington Post reported.

Metro, which records more than 730,000 rail trips on an average weekday, said it would resume service on a fraction of its operations — partial service on three underground rail lines and 22 bus routes — after being shut down for the weekend by the storm.

Virtually all school systems and colleges in the region said they would be closed Monday. The federal government and state and county governments also said they would be closed Monday.

Authorities urged drivers to stay off the roads and pedestrians to stay out of the streets. They said that digging out from a storm that lasted almost 36 hours and delivered more than two feet of snow in some areas will hobble movement well into the workweek.

In addition to paralyzing the region, the storm brought airplane traffic in and out of the region’s three major airports to a virtual halt. Reagan National and Dulles International airports said late Sunday that their runways had been cleared of snow to allow limited operations to resume Monday, but flights weren’t expected to return to normal for days, causing the U.S. House of Representatives to cancel an abbreviated session that was planned from Monday to Wednesday.