What a Snowstorm !

Germantown, Maryland  (Courtesy: Susan Granzow)

The sun has come out in the Nation’s Capital after its largest snowstorm in nearly three years.  This was a long-lasting storm that spanned 35 hours over three days with snow reported at National Airport from 3 PM Saturday afternoon, January 12, to 2 AM Monday, January 14.  Fortunately, the storm occurred over the weekend when the volume of road traffic was lighter and that allowed road crews to work more efficiently.

The January 2019 snowstorm was impressive for a variety of reasons.  It was DC’s third largest January snowstorm in the last 30 years, behind only the January 1996 and 2016 storms.  It produced daily snowfall records on January 13 at both National and Dulles Airports.  If you include the 1.4” of snow that Washingtonians got on November 15, 2018, then DC’s seasonal snow total so far for the 2018-2019 winter (11.7”) is more than the last two winters (2016-2017 and 2017-2018) combined (11.2”).

November 2018 was colder than average and DC’s snowiest November since 1989.  December 2018 and the first 10 days of January were considerably warmer than average with no snow.  With a dramatic shift in the weather pattern, DC Area residents are in a more-typical winter-like weather with near to slightly below average temperatures for the upcoming work-week.  

It’s worth emphasizing the remarkable job that DC Area meteorologists did forecasting this event for the entire week leading up to this past weekend’s winter storm.  Initial calls for snow came last weekend from my colleagues and I on the WUSA9 Weather Team, as well as other local meteorologists.  The forecast was updated throughout last week, so no one should have been surprised that it snowed over the weekend.

Some people expressed surprise that snow totals reached double-digits in many areas of the DC Metro Area.  It’s true there was some fluctuation in the forecast of snow accumulation during the week while the storm was over 1,000 miles away, but as the event drew closer and more snow was expected the forecast was updated commensurately.  Forecasted snow accumulations were increased twice – the day before the snow began on Friday night and again on Saturday.

Forecasting winter weather requires a high degree of skill.  The independent variables involved in forecasting winter weather such as storm track and amount of cold air (that influences precipitation type) illustrate the challenge in winter weather forecasting.  It’s vital for people to stay informed to the latest weather forecast since the potential for more changes exists as a winter storm draws closer.  Even subtle changes in storm track can make a big difference in both precipitation type and amounts.

Storm Totals (According to the National Weather Service)

Washington, D.C. (National Airport, “DCA”):

January 12: 1.9”
January 13: 8.3” (New Daily Record)
January 14: 0.1”

For a 3-day storm total of 10.3”

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Dulles Airport (“IAD”), Sterling, Virginia:

January 12: 2.9”
January 13: 7.7” (New Daily Record)

For a storm total of 10.6”

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Baltimore, Maryland (BWI Airport):

January 12: 1.8”
January 13: 4.8”

For a storm total of 6.6”