You Won’t Have Mike Conneen to Throw Snowballs at Tonight, DC

The overgrown children who organize snowball fights every time enough white stuff accumulates will be back at it Thursday evening with a bout in Dupont Circle. But one person who won’t be joining the hordes of presumably sloshed young professionals is their favorite target: WJLA and NewsChannel 8 reporter Mike Conneen.

Conneen, who covers the organized snowball fights only to wind up being pelted in the face with large clumps of powder, is covering today’s weather. But his shift ends too early for tonight’s fight, which is scheduled to kick off at 5:30 PM.

@washingtonian Good news, bad news: @MikeConneen will be home safe, dry & warm sipping hot cocoa (alas, his 3a shift ends early afternoon)!

— Mike Conneen (@MikeConneen) March 5, 2015

It’s a loss for the snowball hurlers, whom Conneen frequently asks not to aim their salvos toward his head, only to be betrayed every time. (It is also possible that Conneen is the victim of a snowball-heaving conspiracy organized by Washingtonian senior editor Andrew Beaujon.)

Still, tonight’s snowball fight might not be completely devoid of television reporters. Jim Cantore, the Weather Channel’s roving storm reporter and the matinee idol of middle-aged dads everywhere, was dispatched to DC this morning at least one local is petitioning him to extend his coverage to tonight’s snowball engagement. But, fair warning: Unlike Connenn, who politely asks his subjects to aim below the neck, Cantore prefers a more raw fighting style:

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Benjamin Freed

Staff Writer

Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.