In the area around the D.C. Courthouse on Indiana Avenue NW near Judiciary Square, and we suspect elsewhere in the city, there are massive plumes of steam coming from the grates in the sidewalk.

We usually don't pay any attention to the steam that regularly comes up from the grates around town, but thanks to the cold, cold, Vostok-esque weather, these are reaching higher than the surrounding buildings. Walking through them is like flying in fog; you get completely disoriented for a few seconds until the wind blows it away. People have been standing around and gawking at the white, fluffy Old Faithfuls on D Street NW.

However, despite being called beautiful by a couple of passersby, the sinister steam towers has taken at least one victim — namely, a Metropolitan Police Department car. Piloted by intrepid steamonauts, the car pulled into a opaque parking space directly over a grate and then promptly backed into a streetlight, apparently knocking it off its base. Seeing the car enveloped in steam looked like something out of Aliens, but soon enough a tow truck arrived to save the stranded vehicle from slow white death.

So be careful. It does smell a little funky, at least.

Cameraphone pic by Andrew Wiseman