How common is December snowfall in the nation's capital?

 

December 2017 snow in Germantown, MD (Photo Credit: Susan Granzow)

The nation’s capital averages 1.7” of December snowfall. It's no secret that snow has been scarce in the nation's capital recently. That's part of a more than decade-long trend of below average snowfall.

Washington, D.C. averages 13.7" of annual snowfall, according to NOAA. That's based on NOAA's running 30-year average and is updated every decade. The current 30-year average was updated in 2021 to reflect the period of 1991-2020, which replaced the previous data set of 1981-2010. Essentially, the decade of the 2010s replaced the 1980s and Washingtonians saw noticeably less snow in the 2010s than the 1980s (D.C.’s previous annual snowfall average was 15.4”).

D.C.'s last snowier than average winter, overall, was in 2018-2019 (16.9"). Snowfall has been quite meager since then with only two snowier than average months in the nation's capital of 12.3" in January 2022 and 7.8” in January 2024. There hasn't been a snowier than average February in the nation's capital since 2015 (9.8") or March since 2018 (4.5"). 

It's worth noting that March is the only month D.C.'s snowfall average has increased over the last decade (from 1.3" in 1981-2010 to 2.0" from 1991-2010). That's because March was D.C.'s snowiest month of the year four times between 2011 and 2020. 

The nation’s capital has had only one snowier than average December over the last decade (2017). Consequently, D.C.'s December snowfall average declined from 2.3" (1981-2010) to 1.7" (1991-2020). 

December used to be D.C.’s third snowiest month of the year, but has since been replaced by March. March has been the only month in the last decade that Washingtonians had above average snowfall with any regularity, with five such occurrences since 2011. Monthly snowfall can be a cyclical occurrence in the nation’s capital. For example, accumulating December snowfall occurred seven times between 2001 and 2010, but has only occurred five times since then. 

My colleagues and I on the WUSA9 weather team don’t see any accumulating snowfall on the horizon in the nation’s capital.