A snowier than average winter?

 

January snowfall in Bethesda, Maryland

The 2024-2025 winter has been DC’s snowiest in six years. Check out this article I co-wrote for the WUSA9 website for details.

Is more snow on the way?

 

March 2018, Germantown, MD (Photo Credit: Susan Granzow)

The 2024-2025 winter has already been DC’s first snowier than average season with 14.9” since 2018-2019. Given how cold it’s been recently, some residents may wonder if DC has seen the last snow for this season. Though the chances of snow decrease significantly towards the end of February, it isn’t entirely off the table.

The nation’s capital averages 2” of March snowfall.  The last time accumulating March snowfall occurred was in 2018, when DC picked up 4.1 inches on March 21. According to NOAA, March has been DC’s snowiest month of the year four times since 2010. However, none of DC’s Top 10 largest snows have occurred after February 19.

NOAA data also concludes that DC's average March snowfall increased substantially, from 1.3 inches to 2 inches over the last 30 years. Most of the accumulating snow that we see in March falls in the first half of the month. 

The chances of snow accumulating in April in the DC region are very low. The last time DC had measurable April snowfall was on April 7, 2007 with 0.4”. Nine of DC’s 10 snowiest April’s occurred over 100 years ago. The latest in the spring the nation’s capital has seen measurable snowfall was on April 28, 1898 (0.5”).

While the chances for accumulating snowfall decrease with every passing late February day, the prospects for wintry weather in the DC Metro Area aren’t entirely gone for the 2024-2025 winter. 

Top 5 March Snowfall Events in D.C. (Source: NOAA)

1. 12.0” – March 27-28, 1891
2. 11.5” – March 28-29, 1942
3. 10.7” – March 7 – 8, 1941
4. 10.0” – March 15 – 16, 1900
5. 9.8” –  March 3 – 4, 1909

DC’s 5 Snowiest March’s (Source: NOAA)

1. 19.3” – 1914
2. 17.1” – 1960
3. 17.0” – 1891
4. 15.5” – 1900
5. 12.7" – 2014

DC’s Snowiest April’s (Source: NOAA)

1. 5.5” – 1924
2. 4.0” – 1889
3. 3.5” – 1915
4. 3.0” – 1918
5. 2.0” – 1894
6. 1.8” – 1916
7. 1.5” – 1917
8. 1.4” – 1907
9. 1.0” – 1898
10. 0.6” – 1972

DC Area snowfall trends

 

January 2019 snow in Bethesda, Maryland

The last Top 10 snowfall to occur in the nation’s capital was over a two-day period on January 22-23, 2016. That’s when 17.8” was officially measured at National Airport. Above average snowfall in the nation’s capital has become a rarity in the nation’s capital since then. In fact, the 2024-2025 winter season recently became only the second snowier than average (13.7”) winter in the nation’s capital since 2015-2016 with a total of 14.8” to date.

The 6.4” of snow that occurred at National Airport last week also made this February DC’s first with above average snowfall since 2015. In the nine years since the record-setting winter storm in January 2016, DC’s had only eight snowier than average months, including this one.

DC’s snowiest month since January 2016 was January 2022 (12.3”). Also, DC’s largest winter storm since 2016 occurred in January 2019. That was when 10.3” fell from January 12 – 14. This was also DC’s last 10” snowstorm and it helped make the 2018-2019 winter snowier than average for Washingtonians (16.9”). 

January 2024 was a snowier than average month in the nation’s capital, which finished more than 2° warmer than average. The right ingredients only need to come together a few times to produce appreciable snowfall. However, if winters are often warmer and/or drier than average, snowfall becomes less likely.

When NOAA updated it’s weather averages in 2021 to reflect the 30-year period from 1991-2020, replacing 1981-2010, DC’s annual snowfall average decreased from 15.4” to 13.7”. That’s because the 2010s featured less snowfall in the nation’s capital with an annual snowfall average for the decade of 11.2” vs. nearly 17” for the 1980s.