Significant January Snow in the Nation’s Capital

January 2016, Bethesda, MD

There have been a number of significant January snowstorms in the Nation’s Capital.  Washington, D.C.’s largest and deadliest snowstorm on record – the “Knickerbocker Storm” – occurred in January 1922.  With no snow on the horizon, it’s a good opportunity to reflect upon some recent historic storms.

2016:  A major winter storm enveloped the Mid-Atlantic Region from January 22-24 last year.  Although “only” 17.8” fell at National Airport, 22.4” fell at the National Zoo while areas west and north of town saw appreciably more.  For example, Dulles Airport saw its second largest snow total on record with 29.3”, as did Baltimore with a total of 29.2” (measured at BWI Airport).  Totals of more than three feet were observed in central Maryland and parts of Virginia.

2011:  Five inches of snow accumulated at National Airport with slightly higher amounts west and north of town on January 26.  Although not an unusually high amount of snow, what made this snowfall significant was two-fold.  The timing was troublesome in the mid to late afternoon when most people were on their way home from work and school.  The high volume of traffic prevented road crews from plowing and treating roads and that led to many accidents and stranded motorists.  With temperatures near freezing, this snow also had a very high water content that caused it to be a heavy and wet.  That made shoveling more difficult than it would have been compared to a drier snow that would have occurred had temperatures been colder.  This storm was dubbed “Carmaggedon” due to the high number of stranded motorists.

2000: Area meteorologists remember this month for the “surprise” snow that occurred on January 25.  The computer forecast models that originally called for little to no snowfall in the DC Metro Region because a coastal storm was expected to largely go out to sea.  However, late the night before, my colleagues on the WUSA9 weather team recognized the major change in the storm track that ultimately led to snow totals of between 9” and 15” across the DC Metro Region.  But, since there was no social media, most people didn’t get the updated forecast on January 24 and woke up to a significant winter surprise the next morning.

1996:  From January 6-8, Washingtonians experienced their largest snowstorm since 1983.  A Nor’Easter brought 17.1” of snow to the Nation’s Capital which made it the fourth largest snowstorm at the time.  Unlike the 2000 snow event, the computer models did a very good job with this storm and meteorologists were able to give area residents plenty of advance notice.  With a monthly total of 23.8”, January 1996 became the snowiest January in Washington, D.C. since 1935.  Unfortunately, a rapid warmup later in the month led to devastating flooding for parts of the DC Metro Region.