WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. capital shut down on Wednesday ahead of a fierce blizzard that had blanketed the Midwest, reduce power to about 50,000 houses and businesses and compelled lots of of flights to be canceled. Jokingly referred to as “snowquestration” in a nod to the federal finances crunch, the wintry weather prompted storm warnings for much of the Ohio River Valley and the mid-Atlantic states and as a long way south as Georgia because the storm moved east, the National Climate Provider mentioned. …