how early have we gotten snow here in the past?

oh christ, snow threads early this year. you should work for Fox 5

Ok, I'm on record that this winter we will have one of the top (5) snowfall totals for the Washington DC metro area. Prepare! The Oracle has spoken.

i heard almanac said thanksgiving week we are in for a storm..but its never right

I was a teacher for FCPS for many years. About 23 years ago, we had a Veterans Day blizzard. The buses were all late picking up and taking kids home. I was at Hayfield. The roads near there, maainly Telegraph Rd, wer so bad, most of the busses never arrived. I had to stay there with middle school kids until 10 pm. in my classroom with no food. The story made the national news as all the news stations sent camera trucks out. (Hmmm, how did they get through??) Luckily, one kid had two boxes of Mike and Ikes and shared them. I found a Stookey's Pecan log in my closet that was about a year old. We split that and ate it. Lu8ckily, I had a spare librium in my purse left over from my mom's funeral. I took it and was able to survive.
Finally just when we heard the MP's at Fort Belvoir were about to deliver cots for spending the night, the final busses arrived for the remaining kids and we got to drive home in the blizzard. So the earliest snow I remember was Nov 11. It snowed in Cleveland yestrday but it always snows there.

Trickie

Trickie

OracleOfSnow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ok, I'm on record that this winter we will have
> one of the top (5) snowfall totals for the
> Washington DC metro area. Prepare! The Oracle has
> spoken.

From your lips to God's ears. I miss snow. :(

Two 3' "blizzards" in my 32 years in DC. I loved both of them.

The Fat Squirrel has spoken..."My nuthouse is full. My tail is fluffy. I am ready. Let the snow begin. Hope you humans who keep slaughtering my scurrying kin, find Harris Teeter's shelves full of TP, bread and milk. You're gonna need it." The Blizzard of '08 is near, be prepared!

3 or 4 years ago we got an inch or so the week of Thanksgiving (maybe the Monday before?). It was VERY cold that week, and took forever and a half to melt.

I remember this one as well. The weather people totally blew it. They called for a dusting but we got close to 10 inches or more. I think they claimed a storm formed over the DC area so it did not show up on the weather maps. It was a mess because it was snowing in the morning a just did not stop. So they closed schools early and the kids were sent back home which really messed up traffic because parents were heading home at the same time.



TRICKIE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was a teacher for FCPS for many years. About 23
> years ago, we had a Veterans Day blizzard. The
> buses were all late picking up and taking kids
> home. I was at Hayfield. The roads near there,
> maainly Telegraph Rd, wer so bad, most of the
> busses never arrived. I had to stay there with
> middle school kids until 10 pm. in my classroom
> with no food. The story made the national news as
> all the news stations sent camera trucks out.
> (Hmmm, how did they get through??) Luckily, one
> kid had two boxes of Mike and Ikes and shared
> them. I found a Stookey's Pecan log in my closet
> that was about a year old. We split that and ate
> it. Lu8ckily, I had a spare librium in my purse
> left over from my mom's funeral. I took it and
> was able to survive.
> Finally just when we heard the MP's at Fort
> Belvoir were about to deliver cots for spending
> the night, the final busses arrived for the
> remaining kids and we got to drive home in the
> blizzard. So the earliest snow I remember was Nov
> 11. It snowed in Cleveland yestrday but it always
> snows there.
>
> Trickie
>
> Trickie

ernie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I remember this one as well. The weather people
> totally blew it. They called for a dusting but we
> got close to 10 inches or more. I think they
> claimed a storm formed over the DC area so it did
> not show up on the weather maps. It was a mess
> because it was snowing in the morning a just did
> not stop. So they closed schools early and the
> kids were sent back home which really messed up
> traffic because parents were heading home at the
> same time.
>
>
>
> TRICKIE Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I was a teacher for FCPS for many years. About
> 23
> > years ago, we had a Veterans Day blizzard. The
> > buses were all late picking up and taking kids
> > home. I was at Hayfield. The roads near
> there,
> > maainly Telegraph Rd, wer so bad, most of the
> > busses never arrived. I had to stay there with
> > middle school kids until 10 pm. in my classroom
> > with no food. The story made the national news
> as
> > all the news stations sent camera trucks out.
> > (Hmmm, how did they get through??) Luckily, one
> > kid had two boxes of Mike and Ikes and shared
> > them. I found a Stookey's Pecan log in my
> closet
> > that was about a year old. We split that and
> ate
> > it. Lu8ckily, I had a spare librium in my
> purse
> > left over from my mom's funeral. I took it and
> > was able to survive.
> > Finally just when we heard the MP's at Fort
> > Belvoir were about to deliver cots for spending
> > the night, the final busses arrived for the
> > remaining kids and we got to drive home in the
> > blizzard. So the earliest snow I remember was
> Nov
> > 11. It snowed in Cleveland yestrday but it
> always
> > snows there.
> >
> > Trickie
> >
> > Trickie


What about the snowstorm we had in 1983 or 1984, that shut down the schools for over 2 weeks? I had to deliver newspapers during that snowstorm, I swear that was over 4 feet. Or the storm in 1982 when Air Florida crashed into the 14th street bridge?

Or the storm in 1992 or 1993 where we got over 3 feet?

Didn't we get almost 3 feet in 2002 or 2003?

I don't think we've ever had a "major" snow storm before Txgiving, and even remember a late storm in 1987, after easter, where we got a foot or two.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2008 11:11PM by Bob.

Bob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> What about the snowstorm we had in 1983 or 1984,
> that shut down the schools for over 2 weeks? I had
> to deliver newspapers during that snowstorm, I
> swear that was over 4 feet. Or the storm in 1982
> when Air Florida crashed into the 14th street
> bridge?
>
> Or the storm in 1992 or 1993 where we got over 3
> feet?
>
> Didn't we get almost 3 feet in 2002 or 2003?
>
> I don't think we've ever had a "major" snow storm
> before Txgiving, and even remember a late storm in
> 1987, after easter, where we got a foot or two.


The storm Trickie was referring to was before Thanksgiving. It was on Veterans day. That is the worst I can recall for that early. We had almost a foot of snow that year, some areas more some less. But I would definitely say it was a major storm.
All the storms you list happened after Christmas, sometime in Jan or Feb I believe.

I am praying for one nice big fat blizzard this year. Just one big dump of snow would be GREAT with me. I have lived in VA my whole life (40 years) and I remember the snow we got when I was a kid. 3' and more. Those were the days.

Accuweather.com has predicted snow and freezing rain for Thanksgiving!

http://www.accuweather.com/us/va/fairfax/22030/forecast3.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&metric=0

Thursday, Nov 27
High: 41 °F RealFeel®: 27 °F
Cold with a mix of snow and rain

Suburbanite Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bob Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > What about the snowstorm we had in 1983 or
> 1984,
> > that shut down the schools for over 2 weeks? I
> had
> > to deliver newspapers during that snowstorm, I
> > swear that was over 4 feet. Or the storm in
> 1982
> > when Air Florida crashed into the 14th street
> > bridge?
> >
> > Or the storm in 1992 or 1993 where we got over
> 3
> > feet?
> >
> > Didn't we get almost 3 feet in 2002 or 2003?
> >
> > I don't think we've ever had a "major" snow
> storm
> > before Txgiving, and even remember a late storm
> in
> > 1987, after easter, where we got a foot or two.
>
>
> The storm Trickie was referring to was before
> Thanksgiving. It was on Veterans day. That is
> the worst I can recall for that early. We had
> almost a foot of snow that year, some areas more
> some less. But I would definitely say it was a
> major storm.
> All the storms you list happened after Christmas,
> sometime in Jan or Feb I believe.


Yeah, I think for most of those storms, you're right.

I do remember one happening at least before Christmas, however -- I remember back when Tysons only had surface lots, the woodie's parking lot had 30 foot high mountains of snow that they had cleared from all the other lots and stacked up there, during the christmas shopping madness.

SaMiViMa Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am praying for one nice big fat blizzard this
> year. Just one big dump of snow would be GREAT
> with me. I have lived in VA my whole life (40
> years) and I remember the snow we got when I was a
> kid. 3' and more. Those were the days.


3 feet? 4 feet?....sheesh, you guys must measure snowfalls like you measure your dicks.

The biggest snowfall on record in the DC was the Knickerbocker Storm of 1922...28 inches. I've been here all my life and the worst snow I can remember was Blizzard of '66. It was a true white-out blizzard with gale force winds that piled up HUGE drifts, but still "only" 20 inches actually fell.

'79 was a bad one too, but was officially measured at only 18.7 to 22 inches depending on what area of metro DC.

I remember the 66 and 79 ones, too. In 79 stayed on the air for close to 24 hours because it was too hard for the other guys to get to Fairfax City (I was just coming from Falls Church). Well, that, and I think they conspired to see how long I could keep it up for humor's sake...

Tubby,

The official snowfall measurement may have only been 18-22 inches, but that was also when the only measuring was done at National Airport or BWI and that doesn't take into account the drifts. '79 was a blizzard, we had drifts of four feet. I had a car I had to dig out from the street in front of our house so it wouldn't get hit by a plow. You couldn't tell there was a car there at all because of the snow drifts.

If you look at the measurements they give now, the totals vary dramatically even within FAirfax County let alone going all the way up to DC at National. During '79 we measured the snow at 28 inches in a low place with no drifts. That was in Burke. So it's not all in their heads. Snowfall totals are very different from one area to the next.

Heck, we've had times where it was snowing in Springfield and not in Burke. And vice versa. ANd those two locations are a heck of a lot closer than National airport.

Suburbanite Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tubby,
>
> The official snowfall measurement may have only
> been 18-22 inches, but that was also when the only
> measuring was done at National Airport or BWI and
> that doesn't take into account the drifts. '79
> was a blizzard, we had drifts of four feet. I had
> a car I had to dig out from the street in front of
> our house so it wouldn't get hit by a plow. You
> couldn't tell there was a car there at all because
> of the snow drifts.
>
> If you look at the measurements they give now, the
> totals vary dramatically even within FAirfax
> County let alone going all the way up to DC at
> National. During '79 we measured the snow at 28
> inches in a low place with no drifts. That was in
> Burke. So it's not all in their heads. Snowfall
> totals are very different from one area to the
> next.
>
> Heck, we've had times where it was snowing in
> Springfield and not in Burke. And vice versa. ANd
> those two locations are a heck of a lot closer
> than National airport.


Oh, so a snowfall is measured by the deepest drift you can find in any one spot?

By that criteria, I nominate my parent's house for the deepest drift in the Blizzard of '66. It was a one story rambler and the snow drifted up against the front of the house. All that was visible from the street was a few feet of the roof and the chimney sticking up. So, I'd say maybe 12-15 feet fell at our house. Of course, most of the back yard, being on the leeward side of the house, only had a few inches of snow.

Can anybody beat that?

There was a fast-moving snow storm that hit right before Thanksgiving in 1971. Weathermen said it would be a "dusting." We were heading out of town on Rt 50 West early-evening and got stuck for about 5 hours near Gilbert's Corner. Real bummer, as we had 5 adults, 2 babies and a small dog in the car. We were finally able to dig out, get turned around, and go back to I-66 -- then head west again and cut back on country roads. Trip should have been about 6 hours, but ended up being about 12 hours. We never traveled together in the same car again!

Or the storm in 1982
> when Air Florida crashed into the 14th street
> bridge?
>

I was really young then (yup- lived here a while- keep coming back) but that Air Florida crash was haunting.. Just watching the people in the Potomac...

ShininStar Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> how early have we gotten snow here in the past?

It's actually snowing here in Arlington right now. The sun's out, but the air is filled with snowflakes, and the wind is really whipping around, making it look like a mini-blizzard.

Not sure if it counts as an "early snow", but I was surprised to see this kind of weather already.

It snowed really hard here in Harrisonburg last night. The roads got covered up. But after the sun came up most of it melted. We've had flurries throughout the day. It's been snowing nonstop up on the mountain though. I think they've gotten about 10 inches so far.

;



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2012 07:00PM by Alias.

TheMeeper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ShininStar Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > how early have we gotten snow here in the past?
>
> It's actually snowing here in Arlington right now.
> The sun's out, but the air is filled with
> snowflakes, and the wind is really whipping
> around, making it look like a mini-blizzard.
>
> Not sure if it counts as an "early snow", but I
> was surprised to see this kind of weather already.


I think it doesn't count unless we get an inch of actual accumulation.

However, the way things are going, I think the OP might have made a very prescient question.

We could actually get at least an inch before Thanksgiving this year.

At the very least, it's definitely going to be an extremely cold end of autumn.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2008 02:39AM by Bob.

Oh yeah, I forgot about global warming.

Even though there is little science and lots of money behind it, I think we're supposed to believe in global warming.

Aren't we??

"To pass the time, I used to look at the clock and try to see how long I could hold my breath. "

For the love of god man, try a little harder.