I took down the really Christmas-y stuff, but the lights are going to stay up at least into March. I did it last year and neighbors said it really helped with morale during the pre-vaccine times in January and February.
Sure, we'll be on the west side of the eye but hard to imagine that the hurricane-force winds will still be causing trouble by the time it gets to DC.
(Crap, I see I stopped changing my wall calendar five months ago.)
Sweating the rain/snow line is part of the deal with this type of setup, alas. That's why I loved last Monday so much. Didn't have to be glued to a precip-type radar the entire time.
Remember, they always come north. Well, except when they don't, but they ALMOST always come north. Okay, so maybe not almost, but they OFTEN come north.....
Oh, I don't think the concept of news organizations knowing that coverage of big weather events gooses the ratings is anything new. I remember local stations being all over big weather events in the 1970s.
As for the current storm, I'm starting to hope for the "atmospheric memory" or whatever we call it that seems to target a specific area repeatedly throughout the season. And so far this season it would be me.