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At the height of the storm Saturday, more than 80,000 residents across the county woke to no heat or electricity, according to Pepco spokesman Andre Francis. Pepco officials dispatched work crews to repair down lines while the snow continued to fall.

A map of area power outages posted on Pepco's Web site marks spotty outages across the county. The last lights should flicker on by Tuesday evening, Francis said.

Francis also said the outages aren't concentrated in any particular area, a result he attributed to the electricity company's complex series of feeders.

"Your next door neighbor may be on a completely different feeder than you," Francis said.

That's not as much of a nuisance for crews as actually accessing the powerless homes is, Francis said. He said Pepco crews are on the heels of county plowers to reach freshly cleared streets.

Hotels in the area were working just as hard to create a home away from home for families displaced due to power outages.

About 400 extra guests dropped by the Hilton in downtown Silver Spring this weekend to find shelter from the storm, said general manager John O'Sullivan.

Hilton staff set up extra TVs in the restaurant and lounge for Superbowl parties and opted for buffet-style meals instead of traditional menus.

"It was really crazy in one way, but it was also an enjoyable weekend," O'Sullivan said. " … In situations like this, I think customers are more understanding than they normally can be. They're just happy to have heat, shelter and a place to lay down."

Downtown Silver Spring hotels Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites served as home to about 100 blizzard refugees over the weekend, said Bibi Ruiz, a front-desk employee for the joint-operation hotel on Colesville Road.

And Travelodge on 13th Street in South Silver Spring was sold out as of Sunday, employees report.

Families trekked through the snow Friday through Sunday, many times on foot, to reach refuge.

On Sunday morning, Glenmont resident Tommy Paris took his Toyota Camry, and his 94-year-old father, down a hilly Holdridge Road to the Comfort Inn in Silver Spring.

Much of his neighborhood went black about 6 a.m. Saturday, Paris said. His family waited it out — until they woke up to a 40-degree home Sunday morning and his father said, "‘That's it, enough is enough,'" Paris said.

Paris called around to several hotels in Rockville, but none had vacancies.

Luckily, it wasn't too hard to find a room at the Comfort Inn, where Paris said he ran into many of his neighbors over the weekend.

And although his neighbor called Sunday afternoon to report power was back, Paris and his father stayed in Silver Spring through today just to make sure.

And in case even the hotels aren't immune from power outages, many of them have generators for such situations. The Hilton had "brown-outs"—flickering lights—over the weekend, but O'Sullivan said large chunks of Colesville Road suffered the full fate of downed power lines.

Despite living in the dark for more than 24 hours, Paris said he was impressed with Pepco's rapid response to hook up power throughout the county.

"People from Pepco have done a hellatious job," he said, noting the company braved poor road conditions to restore power to thousands over the weekend.

At least one county family was sent to a hospital after trying to stay warm during a power outage. Firefighters rescued a family of eight Sunday morning in the 13600 block of Cedar Creek Lane in Burtonsville for reported carbon monoxide poisoning after they used a charcoal grill to keep warm.

It's possible as soon as power sparks back on Tuesday evening across Montgomery County that it could sputter right back off a few hours later. Forecasters are calling for as much as 10 inches of snow to fall on the already beleaguered area Tuesday night.

As Paris and others caught their breath today, they fully accepted the possibility for more pandemonium and close calls tomorrow.

"Snow tomorrow is going to make everything a holy mess," Paris said.