WASHINGTON — A winter storm marched into the mid-Atlantic region Wednesday, dumping nearly two feet of snow in places and knocking out power to about 250,000 homes and businesses. It largely spared the nation’s capital, which was expecting worse and had all but shut down.

Officials in Washington did not want a repeat of 2011, when a rush-hour snowstorm stranded commuters for hours, so they told people to stay off the roads and gave workers the day off. Dubbed the “snowquester,” the storm closed ­government offices, just as the automatic budget cuts were ­expected to do.