Just Your Everyday History for Starters

Well this is the first of the blogs, and to begin I figured I'd share something timely and appropriate...

What Was the Worst Snow in D.C. History?

As those of you who live in the D.C. area (and even into West Virginia and Delaware) are very well aware, we have gotten a maelstrom of snow that has knocked out power, ruined weekend plans, and given all who live here with the worst case of cabin-fever since... well since people actually lived in cabins and had fevers. Forecasts before the storm were calling for anywhere between 6 and 40 inches of snow with the end result being closer to the latter. Most areas in and around Washington, D.C. accumulated more than 30 inches (Washington, D.C. official snowfall according to Reagan Airport was 17.8 inches), and are now bracing themselves for another 10-15 inches to be dumped on the region by the end of Wednesday's follow-up blizzard. Or as some Washington jargon creators have dubbed it, Snowpocalypse 2.0.

You will be interested to know that the worst snowfall on record for the region was in 1922 with 28 inches recorded. So while Gaithersburg, MD reined in 30 inches as its official count, and Crofton, VA recorded a whopping 34 inches, D.C.'s official snowfall is still 17.8 inches (still beating the 1996 blizzard that recorded 17.1 inches in D.C.). Reagan National Airport became the official scorekeeper for D.C. weather in 1941, but has recently come under scrutiny for possible inaccurate measurements. For instance, just a hop, skip, and a jump south (literally) of the airport in Alexandria, VA, snowfall was recorded at 28.9 inches. Conspiracy? Dun dun dunnnnn.

Even more than 1922 is believed to be in 1772 where snowfall was estimated at over 3 feet! Now keep in mind Washington, D.C. was not Washington, D.C. In fact, there was no United States in 1772, but unofficial records maintain that this was the worst snowfall the region has seen in the past few hundred years. Only 13 times since 1870 has there even been more than 1 foot of snow at any given time in the Washington, D.C. area. So not only did we endure a massive snow in December 2009, but now with the prediction of another foot of snow between Tuesday and Wednesday the region could be facing bringing this statistic to 16 times since 1870 .

In fact, one scientist predicted that if all the snow that fell on the East Coast were melted, it would fill 12 million Olympic swimming pools or 30,000 Empire State buildings. Yikes! Even the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have cancelled votes for the week and Members could be seen hustling and bustling around the District struggling to uncover cars or find public transportation that was still working. So, continue to stock up on food, beer, and wine, charge your phone, keep a flashlight by your side, and let's get ready to brace for Snowmaggedon Redux. You're living through history! Watch it being made out your front-door.

Just in case you were wondering, here are the top 5 worst snowfalls in D.C. history according to the Washington Post:

January 27-28, 1922 ... 28 inches
February 11-13, 1899 ... 20.5 inches
February 18-19, 1979 ... 18.7 inches
January 6-8, 1996 ... 17.1 inches
February 15-18, 2003 ... 16.7 inches