Obama teases Washington's weather wimps

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama teasingly scoffed at the apparent wimpiness of Washingtonians when faced with cold weather.

"My children's school was canceled today because of what? Some ice?" Obama said before a meeting with some of the nation's biggest business leaders, drawing laughs.

Washington has been zapped with freezing drizzle and other wintry precipitation with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees F. The National Weather Service said up to a quarter-inch of ice could accumulate Wednesday.

"As my children pointed out," Obama said to chuckles, "in Chicago, school is never canceled" and students "wouldn't even stay indoors" at recess.

He said he might have to look into applying some "Chicago toughness" in the nation's capital.

"When it comes to weather," he said, "folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things."