January snowfall trends in the nation’s capital

 

A January snow day in Bethesda, Maryland

Although two of the last three January’s have been snowier than average in the nation’s capital, only eight of the last 20 January’s fit that criteria. It's important to distinguish how a snowier than average month doesn’t always mean there will be a snowier than average winter season as a whole. Here's a closer look at some of the snowier than average January’s.

January 2024: The nation's capital ended its snowfall drought  on January 15. That's when 3.4" of snow fell as part of a two-day total of 4.1" at National Airport. Prior to this storm, the last inch of snow Washingtonians experienced was on January 16, 2022 (2.6"). Winter weather enthusiasts got a second round of snow a few days later with 3.7" on January 19. The month’s total of 7.8" is above DC's January snowfall average of 4.9".

January 2022: There was a monthly total of 12.3" of snow with accumulating snowfall on four days. The largest winter storm this month was 6.9" of snow on January 3. Making this snowfall particularly impressive is that it occurred following 10 consecutive warmer than average days, including highs in the 60s on January 1 and January 2. The 2021-2022 winter finished with 13.2", just below DC’s annual snowfall average of 13.7".

January 2016:  While “only” 17.8” fell at National Airport, 22.4” fell at the National Zoo. Areas west and north of town saw appreciably more. For example, Dulles Airport had its second largest snow total on record with 29.3”, according to the National Weather Service. Totals of more than three feet were observed in central Maryland and parts of Virginia.

The Blizzard of 2016 ranks as the fourth largest snowstorm on record in Philadelphia with 22.4”. It set snowfall records at JFK and LaGuardia Airports (30.6” and 28.2” respectively) in New York City. Meanwhile, New York City’s Central Park finished with 27.5” that set its all-time snowfall record.

January 1996: This storm brought the nation’s capital 17.3” of snow on January 6-7, 1996. The January 1996 blizzard was D.C.’s single largest snowfall since the President’s Day 1979 storm (18.7”). The epic January 1996 snow event is one of only two winter storms to be ranked as a Category 5 or “extreme” storm on NOAA’s “Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale.”

 

With a monthly total of 23.8”, January 1996 was the snowiest January in Washington, D.C. since 1935. It remained DC's largest snow event until "Snowmageddon" in February 2010 that was later tied by the January 2016 winter storm.  This winter storm also produced 24.6” of snow at Dulles Airport that was its largest snow event on record at the time and is currently third largest behind “Snowmageddon” (32.4”) and January 2016 (29.3”), according to the National Weather Service.