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| March 2016 Snow, Bethesda, MD |
The DC Metro Region has had a wide variety of weather
over the first week of March. That
includes 80-degree warmth, severe weather and some of the coldest temperatures of
the winter. Although Washingtonians have
only had 1.4” of snow so far this season (less than 10% of the annual average
of 15.4”), accumulating snow can still occur in March.
March snow is actually more common than many
Washingtonians may realize. The Nation’s
Capital averages 1.3” of snow in March according to National Weather Service
data. As recently as 2015, March was
snowier than average while 10 of the last 30 Marchs, overall, have been snowier
than average in Washington, D.C. That
should give area residents disappointed about this winter’s lack of snow some
reason for optimism.
Next week is the 24th anniversary of the
“Superstorm of 1993” that brought the Mid-Atlantic Region a significant amount
of snow. At the height of the storm, the
snow changed to sleet in the immediate DC Metro Area that kept the official
accumulation down to 6.6” at National Airport.
However, areas west and north of town saw significantly more such as
Dulles Airport (14.1”) and BWI Airport (11.9”).
March 1999 was the snowiest March (8.7”) in Washington, D.C. since 1960
(17.1”). That was primarily due to a
March 9 storm that brought 8.4” to National Airport.
The largest snowfall of the 2008-2009 winter season
occurred on March 2 when 4.5” fell. On
March 25, 2013, National Airport observed 1.4” of snow that set a record for
latest in the season that the first inch of snow occurred.
Area residents saw more than double the seasonal
average of 15.4” of snow during the 2013-2014 winter season (32”). March 2014 was the snowiest month of the 2013-2014
winter season with 12.7” and remains the second snowiest March since National
Airport opened in 1941. However, as March
wears on, it gets more difficult for accumulating snow to occur as the sun
angle, amount of daylight and average temperatures all increase.
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