The first storm of the New Year brought snow on Jan. 3 to multiple states in the eastern United States and left hundreds of thousands of people without power. Nearly 400,000 households in Virginia lost power as of 12:25 p.m., according to PowerOutage.US. Another 152,000 households in North Carolina, and more than 200,000 across Maryland, Georgia, and South Carolina, were also without electricity. As of midday, more than half a foot of snow was dumped in portions of Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and North Carolina, according to the National Weather Service. The highest total was reported as 11 inches in Swiss, North Carolina, about 28 miles northeast of Asheville. A storm front moved into the region after a warm holiday season, sending temperatures plunging and adding high winds in some of the areas that saw snowfall. The weather prompted closures, including federal offices in the nation’s capital …