From Laura Moyer (don’t tempt her to give up her day job to become a folk singer):

How about, “Legislators hammered out an eleventh-hour compromise.” Sounds like it should be in a folk song:

If I had a hammer,
I’d hammer out a compromise
At the eleventh hour
All over this laaa-and

Also, there are oodles of nice nouns for frozen precipitation. No
need–ever–for “the white stuff.”