(moving to Banter...)
Definitely a high-impact event! What you describe is more or less what I got at my place at the time in Silver Spring. There were a couple of inches on the ground early morning on the 26th, then the snizzle for several hours, then WHAM! late afternoon and evening. It was unreal. I got home just in time when the main part hit. It started quite literally like small chunks of ice for a short while (not the standard sleet balls, probably icy flakes), which quickly turned into heavy, wet snow. As I said in the other thread, we received 8" in about a 5 hour period, a total paste job. Very picturesque and stunning from a scenic standpoint. But also quite destructive as well, with the power outages and downed tree limbs. I lost power for almost 3 full days and it was pretty miserable to be honest. It actually got down to like the mid-upper 40s in my apartment by the time power was restored. If the power didn't come back when it did, I was giving serious thought to finding a hotel...though a lot were already full since many people were grabbing rooms for the same reason. I was able to go into work the next day and beyond, so was able to be in a decently warm building much of the day while my power was out!
You're right, a lot of people initially kind of shrugged even after the NWS hoisted the warning, because it looked drizzly outside and not much happening. I recall OPM did finally send people home. Can't recall exactly how that went down but I think it was something like granting 2 hour early dismissal, but everyone leaving NO LATER than 3PM. I left around or just before 3PM. Fortunately my commute wasn't bad and I'm not far away from work. In hindsight, they should have let everyone out at like noon or 2PM. Plus, a lot of other businesses, etc., didn't close up or allow people to cut out early to avoid the inevitable mess, or they only did so very late. So at 3PM and beyond, nearly everyone in the metro area was out on the Beltway and other main roads, and that's about when things started to get ugly out. Lots of people stranded, with a several hours long commute well into the night in many cases.