Winter Storm Wrap-up

 

 

January 16, 2022 Snow in Bethesda, Maryland

The last several days have featured no shortage of active weather in the D.C. Metro Area.  Sunday, January 16, saw the coldest temperature in the Nation’s Capital in nearly three years.  The low temperature at Reagan National Airport fell to 17° at 7:23 a.m.  Prior to Sunday, it hadn’t been colder than 22° in Washington, D.C. since February 2, 2019 (18°).  In fact, Sunday’s low of 17° was D.C.’s coldest temperature since January 31, 2019 (10°).  Dulles Airport also had a frigid low of 14° on January 16, which tied for its coldest temperature so far this winter.

The cold and dry air mass in place was ideal for the snow that developed on Sunday.  Several inches of snow accumulated in the D.C. Metro Area before warmer air displaced the cold air.  The area of low pressure that brought the initial period of snowfall tracked too far west to bring a pure snow event to the I-95 corridor.  Consequently, warmer air brought a changeover to a wintry mix by late Sunday afternoon in the Nation’s Capital.

As the center of the area of low pressure moved northward that day, heavier rain came along with it.  Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued shortly before midnight Sunday for some Maryland counties east of I-95 and west of the Chesapeake Bay.  Damaging wind gusts were the primary threat along with heavy rain and flooding potential.  A daily January 16 rainfall record of 1.12” was set at Dulles Airport while National Airport reported 0.90” of rain.  Rainfall totals include the liquid equivalent for melted snow and ice.  Daily snowfall records were set on Sunday at National (2.6”) and tied at Dulles Airport (2.3”).

If the storm track had been further east and the cold air were able to remain in place, then double-digit snowfall totals could have occurred in the D.C. Metro Area.  That’s similar to what happened in January 1996 and January 2016.  However, with this storm the heaviest snow occurred in the Appalachian Mountains northward into western Pennsylvania and New York. 

Once the storm moved away from the Mid-Atlantic, the primary threat shifted from snow, wintry mix and rain to gusty winds that dominated D.C. Area weather headlines yesterday.  Gusty winds are actually quite common during the winter as an intensifying storm moves away and an area of high pressure builds in behind it.  The stronger the pressure gradient (difference between high and low pressure) is then the gustier the winds are. 

It’s rare for the same storm to produce such dramatically different weather conditions over the course of a single day as D.C. Area residents experienced on Sunday.  From temperatures in the teens, to a few inches of snow, to heavy rain and severe thunderstorms January 16 was a memorable weather day.  Finally, D.C.’s high temperature of 40° didn’t occur until late Sunday night at 11:44 p.m., which is very unusual.