Scarlet Pimpernel

LWX's forecast from Friday evening, 18 December 2009 for the DC area (I saved a lot from that winter): Expires:200912190915;;980494 FPUS51 KLWX 190145 ZFPLWX ZONE FORECAST PRODUCT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 845 PM EST FRI DEC 18 2009 DCZ001-VAZ054-190915- DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA-ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WASHINGTON...ALEXANDRIA...FALLS CHURCH 845 PM EST FRI DEC 18 2009 ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY... .OVERNIGHT...SNOW. SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 4 TO 8 INCHES. LOWS IN THE UPPER 20S. NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW NEAR 100 PERCENT. .SATURDAY...SNOW. SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES. ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 8 TO 12 INCHES. HIGHS AROUND 30. NORTH WINDS 15 TO 20 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW NEAR 100 PERCENT. .SATURDAY NIGHT...SNOW...MAINLY IN THE EVENING. SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES IN THE EVENING. ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 2 TO 4 INCHES. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION AROUND 20 INCHES. LOWS IN THE UPPER 20S. NORTHWEST WINDS AROUND 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW NEAR 100 PERCENT. .SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MORNING...THEN PARTLY SUNNY IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE MID 30S. NORTHWEST WINDS AROUND 15 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 50 PERCENT.

Good points. Though of course one cannot link singular events to a climatological phenomenon (stating the obvious here, I know!), it is hard to ignore global warming. As for this July, last I checked DCA was ~3 degrees above normal for the month, through yesterday (Jul. 22). And much of that from my quick look and calculation was due to the overnight lows, not so much the daily highs, as you stated. I think the lows are ~4 degrees above so far (vs. ~+1 or so for the highs) compared to the July mean for the entire month. Not the best to compare to the overall July climo since we've got just over a week left this month, but you get the idea. Interesting. It was quite oppressive the past week or so, that's for sure, even if it wasn't excessively hot in terms of absolute temperatures. I'm sure the amount of precipitation we've received since June played a role there. If the latest forecasts for the next week are correct, I'd expect that DCA departure to decrease somewhat, maybe to ~+2 degrees or even less(?). After the past 3 Julys...or, heck, the past 3 summers!...this year has seemed relatively moderate. Though, yes, that's somewhat subjective.

Hi Wes...yes, I remember your posts back then, it was quite an exciting time! Has it really been 2 whole years now?? I think you're right, in our lifetime we'll probably never see something comparable to that 12 day period from end of January into mid-February. It was truly remarkable. I say this as someone who experienced some of the worst winters (or best, depending on your point of view!) in northeast Ohio. Looking back, I don't think I can recall such a time period there with that kind of snow, with the possible exception of a big lake effect event. Of course, I'm sure we'll see another "big event" at some point, just not so much in such a concentrated amount of time. I'm glad I've got a lot of photos and notes from 2009-10. It's just too bad that this year, I haven't had much opportunity to give the new camera I got for Christmas a good workout on snow photography (and it's supposed to be better in low-light night shots, something I couldn't get very well with the old one a couple of years ago)!

As promised, a few photos... From the late afternoon/evening of Feb. 5: Near the start of the event, snow lining the trees Later in the evening, snow practically pouring out of the sky And, during the day of Feb. 6: Woke up to see this nice image During one of the heavy bands as it went through

Toilet paper and milk, FTW!! I'd like to see what kind of a spike in sales all the local supermarkets had during the week of those two storms!

The whole 12-day period from 30 January through 10 February was incredible in terms of winter weather, and something I've never experienced before. And this is coming from someone who grew up in northeast OH, where lots of snow and cold winters are common.

I've got many of the LWX forecasts and forecast discussions throughout the event, HPC snowfall probability charts, NAM and GFS forecasts at 500, 700, 850, and surface from Friday, 5 February (12Z cycle), and final snowfall reports after the storm...all saved. And, of course a ton of photos! I'll look through them and see if I can post a couple later on sometime. The only unfortunate thing (photograpy-wise!) is that a lot of the snow fell at night, and my camera isn't the greatest for nighttime photography, so most of the pictures are from just before sunset and from the following day. But I did get a few late in the evening, at least. The whole storm was amazing, as was the anticipation and getting ready for it. It was well forecast well in advance, with high certainty about what was going to happen. I remember leaving work early, just as the first light snow started to fall...headed out to Blockbuster (Lackluster!) video to pick up a couple of movies for the weekend, grabbed a small personal Pizza Hut pizza for lunch, and got some fire wood in case the power went out (fortunately it didn't!). Oh, and also picked up a 6-pack of BECK'S beer, on purpose, in honor of the impending storm (thinking of the mythical "BECS" type snowstorm!). Snow initially fell lightly for a couple or so hours but didn't really accumulate at the start. But it did start in earnest and began accumulating around 3PM on Friday the 5th. We had some snow left over from the Groundhog's Day event a couple of days prior (which got lost in the shuffle before the big event). I ended up with 23.5" where I'm at in Silver Spring, MD. Took many Jebwalks through the evening and the following day. Heard some thunder-snow during the evening/night, definitely saw flashes of lightning in the sky. And, heard many transformers blowing too. When I got up the next morning, it was a spectacular scene...and we still had a decent amount of the storm left to go! The only thing that was a little odd was that early Saturday (6th), Sterling seemed to back off some on the snow amounts I recall, and mentioned as much in their forecast discussion at the time...only to up them again by mid-morning. That, and somehow, despite the entire area getting a general 20-30", DCA came in with "only" 17.8, and I remember some discussion about that report on the Eastern WX board. I seem to recall seeing at least a couple of reports within the District itself that were well over 20". Regardless, a great storm all-around!

HA...perfect!

Pretty much! Same here. I loved going outside in the late evening on Friday as it began to snow and accumulate. Next day, I was out taking pictures as often as possible, and taking measurements. I'm sure the neighbors were wondering who the fool was walking around with a yardstick (all in the name of science, ya know!). Perhaps one of the coolest things about that storm is it was the first truly major event since Feb. 2003...a long time coming, and it was very exciting to finally break that drought. Even for this area, 7 years between "big storms" is kind of a long time. And by major, I'm talking widespread double-digit amounts (10-12") or more in the metro area (even as measured at DCA!). We certainly had some good moderate or better events in the intervening time, but also just missed on some or ended up with a lot less than originally thought (Feb. 2007 comes to mind, lots of sleet/ice when it looked for so long like we'd get hammered...and Feb. 2006, we got 8-10" or something like that, but that storm ended up hitting areas to the north like Philly and NYC a lot harder...and in Jan-Feb 2005 we had some chances that ended up being a lot less, though it was cold I recall).

Ahhh, good memories of that, as I dig up my photos! I remember leaving work early Friday, getting the last minute shopping done (only chance I had to do it) with checkout lines backed up down the aisles. Seeing the first of the snow begin around 9:30PM. 9" on the ground by mid-morning on the 19th, total of 20". Here's some pictures: Pretty much looked like this for much of the day on Dec. 19. Icicles the following day after the storm.