(Brief) Synopsis of PDI

[Ger]

I asked my mother about some of the bigger snowstorms she can remember, as she has a much longer experience with DC-area weather (her: b. 1959, me: b. 1985). She couldn't recall many, including, to my surprise, the 1983 storm, but she did recall the '79 storm, aka PDI. At the time she was living in Baltimore attending college. However, during the storm she was in NE Washington, D.C. and her recollection was of having seen well over twenty inches, approaching perhaps thirty although her memory is a bit rusty. PDI doesn't get a lot of attention/review either here or, as far as I can tell, on other academic meteorology sites. It's not on Wikipedia. A google search turns up nothing of use. Can someone provide me with a brief synopsis of what occurred with that one? Where it originated, tracked, redeveloped, etc.?

Btw I've been around since 1985, my memory (of weather) serves going back to about 1995 (95/96 specifically) and in my almost 26 years (or 16 as memory dictates) I've had the privilege to live through a whole bunch of once-in-a-lifetime winter weather events:

1/96: Nuff said. ~18-24 inches in Upper Marlboro, MD, and a lot of sleet. I recall having measured 21 inches but I was like ten at the time, so I'm certain my measuring technique wasn't the appropriate one.

1/00: Being in Upper Marlboro paid off for this one. ~17-22 inches. Not a ping of sleet. Amateurishly measured around 20 inches in several spots (17,19,22,19), but looking back, 20 wasn't and isn't a bad guess as to how much we got. Snowfall maps show Upper Marlboro pretty much hit the jackpot with that one, along with northern Calvert, southern Anne Arundel and places within a 5-10 mile radius of the intersection of routes 301 (Crain Hwy) and 214 (Central avenue).

2/03: PDII. Like 1/96, a crap load of sleet held down the total, but it was a good ~19-25 inches anyway. Still measuring like an amateur, I recorded 21", 22", 19", 25" and 18" in randomly picked spots, away from drifting-vulnerable areas.

2/06: I was in Columbia, MD for this one and gratefully so. Columbia hit the jackpot with this one. Upper Marlboro ended up sitting outside the narrow, ferocious deformation band that plastered central/north-central/north-east MD, getting 8 or 10 inches that promptly melted down to a couple inches of slush by the next evening.

In Columbia, the deform band just set up shop aloft and produced a fantastic amount of snow overnight, with thunder and lightning to boot. ~18-22 inches. By then I was a better measure, finding 18", 24" and 19" in three spots. Didn't quite believe my own eyes until going to Eastern and seeing other likewise reports.

12/09: Looking back, an appropriate start to winter. ~22-26 inches in Upper Marlboro. No sleet at all, which would be the story for the 09/10 biggies. I followed NOAA guidelines when measuring, and a blizzard warning notwithstanding, the wind didn't produce much in the way of drifting. Upper Marlboro was a good spot for this one: reports showed a near-maximum on the east side of the D.C., almost due east, and then meandering north a bit to about BWI, and per radar which I closely followed, Upper Marlboro got in on some of the heavier banding in the early afternoon and early evenings hours. 21", 22", 26", and 24" in the spots I picked.

2/10(1): I was in N.E. D.C., certainly not the best location for this one (that was central MD/N+E and out towards IAD), but in a general 20-35 inch storm, what's several inches, or even a clean foot, between inter-region friends. ~23-27 inches. I know everyone says this, but the snowfall rates from around 830pm on 2/5 through 2am on 2/6 were just unbelievable. I got very anxious watching radar around 1230/1am on the sixth because the dry-slot was approaching from the south rather quickly. I wasn't quite sure whether the pivot, which was showing up on radar but much less impressively than the dry-slot, would save D.C. in time to prevent a lapse (though I distinctly remember thinking that areas north of a line from BWI-IAD were sitting comfortably and would clearly benefit from the pivot, unlike D.C. It was a little too much pressure watching radar, and I'd worn the F5 to smithereens, so I decided on a nap after thirty straight hours awake.

In fact, as radar later showed, the pivot flexed just in time to keep D.C. in snow, though heavier bands had pushed north and west. But thanks to some pretty classic back-building, and a precipitation shield that intensified, then collapsed from north to south (a signal of all three 09/10 biggies and smaller ones like 1/30/10 too), the snowfall rate picked up around 6 or 630am, sustaining until 2pm or so, before finally winding down and shutting off rather suddenly at 3pm: within the hour, the sun was out, and by sunset the sky was almost clear.

The four-hour lull lasting from about 2am to 6/630am did inflict damage to D.C. and areas nearby, however. Those four hours essentially made the difference between measuring 32.4" at IAD, 38.3 at Elkridge, 33.8 at Laurel (among other similar totals) versus the 21-29" amounts more generally measured below the BWI-IAD line. In NE D.C., I recorded 21", 27", 24", 25" and 23" in five relatively drift-immune spots. I threw out the 21" and 27" numbers and went with 24.5". I must say, however, that eyeballing the storm's aftermath, snow piles, coverage, etc., 27" *feels* most accurate and is on par American University's measurement. Although AU is in upper NW, it lies in an area that is geographically very similar to far-flung neighborhoods in NE, such as where I was located: similar elevation, similar distance from downtown and the river, and streetscapes characterized by relatively big lots, abundant green-space, and low density.

2/10(2): Again in N.E. D.C. And again, not the best location in the area: that was back to visit the usual suspects in central MD and especially BWI/N+E. Measured 12.5" and witnessed some of the most unbelievable, unreal conditions I've ever witnessed, right up there with 8pm through 2am 2/5-6. Except this time the wind was something to be reckoned with. Measuring was basically impossible but from eyeballing 12-14" seems about right. Heck, even DCA managed to record almost a foot. Radar the night before, the ninth, looked pitiful and I figured just another Miller B-esque screw job. And so instead of pouting like I was about to do 2/5-6, I went to sleep for some much-needed R&R. Woke up about 7am, looked outside, and the rest, I suppose I should say, is history. Kept up snowing all day too till midnight. Incredible whiteouts were really something to behold. 12-14" may not in keeping with the 18"+ list I've got going here, but it is definitely deserving of a spot on my once-in-a-lifetime.

That's a total of 7! Seven once-in-a-lifetimes. That's pretty cool since I'm only 25. Methinks we've entered a cycle where these once'ers are more like once-every-four years'ers. If one were to count back to when I was born, instead of when I first began tracking winter weather, one could add at most four and fewest two to the seven I've got so far. Pretty incredible stuff!!

[Chris L]

Great stuff, Ger! I always enjoy reading threads like this. Shame about the sleet in PD II and '96, though, both would have been 30 or more inches like February 6, 2010.

PD I: February 18-19, 1979: The Presidents Day Storm was considered the worst storm in 57 years to strike the Washington area. Snow depths from the storm were up to 20 inches over Northern Virginia and Maryland. At times, snow was falling 2 to 3 inches per hour and temperatures were in the single digits to teens. Huge tractors and other farm machinery had been driven to the Mall in DC to protest for higher agricultural pricing. When the storm hit, the farmers used their equipment to help the locals dig out of the nearly two feet of snow. Four deaths occurred in Virginia, which were attributed to heart attacks due to stress from overexertion during and after the storm, and 18 injuries occurred from falls on ice.

[RIC Airport]

Of course most of this board's population was not living, but it's a shame that older folks are starting to forget about PD I. In fact the entire month of February 1979 was an impressive one for the Mid Atlantic and Northeast. For Richmond, it ranks as the 2nd coldest February on record with an average monthly temperature of 28.6°F. It's also our 3rd snowiest February with 19.5" altogether. PD I itself delivered 10.9" officially the 18-19th. And with that, the official temperature at Richmond ranged from 9°F to 10°F from 1pm to 7pm during the height of the event on the 18th. This is the coldest snowstorm I can find for Richmond probably rivaling the blizzard of February 1899.

There are a couple of other things that makes this month so unique for central VA. For one, Richmond Airport recorded 17 consecutive days with a daily snow depth of 1 inch or greater. This is just two days shy of the record 19 days set in 1948. Looking at the below data, you can see that a solid 4 inch snowcover persisted much of the month before peaking at 14" on the 19th. Richmond also recorded two consecutive days with a low temperature below 0°F. The -8°F reading on the 10th is the 3rd coldest temperature since observations for record began in 1897.

 
Richmond Byrd Int'l Airport, VA
Daily Data Listing
Feb 1, 1979 - Feb 28, 1979

Date          MaxT  MinT  Pcpn  Snow  Snwg
02/01/1979      40    25  0.00   0.0     T
02/02/1979      43    18  0.00   0.0     0
02/03/1979      34    19  0.01   0.2     0
02/04/1979      53    27  0.00   0.0     0
02/05/1979      36    22  0.00   0.0     0
02/06/1979      31    13     T     T     0
02/07/1979      28    23  0.67   6.4     5
02/08/1979      44    10  0.00   0.0     5
02/09/1979      29     8  0.08   1.6     3
02/10/1979      32    -8  0.00   0.0     4
02/11/1979      23    -1     T     T     4
02/12/1979      36    16  0.01   0.4     4
02/13/1979      27     8     T     T     4
02/14/1979      28     7     T     T     4
02/15/1979      35    25     T   0.0     4
02/16/1979      36    19  0.00   0.0     3
02/17/1979      21     8  0.00   0.0     3
02/18/1979      14     6  0.36   7.2     3
02/19/1979      40    10  0.25   3.7    14
02/20/1979      44     3  0.00   0.0    13
02/21/1979      50    27  0.10   0.0     8
02/22/1979      56    37  0.00   0.0     3
02/23/1979      48    35  0.48   0.0     T
02/24/1979      43    38  2.64   0.0     0
02/25/1979      44    39  1.36   0.0     0
02/26/1979      44    37  0.01   0.0     0
02/27/1979      53    30  0.00   0.0     0
02/28/1979      59    28  0.00   0.0     0

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

I asked my mother about some of the bigger snowstorms she can remember, as she has a much longer experience with DC-area weather (her: b. 1959, me: b. 1985). She couldn't recall many, including, to my surprise, the 1983 storm, but she did recall the '79 storm, aka PDI. At the time she was living in Baltimore attending college. However, during the storm she was in NE Washington, D.C. and her recollection was of having seen well over twenty inches, approaching perhaps thirty although her memory is a bit rusty. PDI doesn't get a lot of attention/review either here or, as far as I can tell, on other academic meteorology sites. It's not on Wikipedia. A google search turns up nothing of use. Can someone provide me with a brief synopsis of what occurred with that one? Where it originated, tracked, redeveloped, etc.?

Btw I've been around since 1985, my memory (of weather) serves going back to about 1995 (95/96 specifically) and in my almost 26 years (or 16 as memory dictates) I've had the privilege to live through a whole bunch of once-in-a-lifetime winter weather events:

1/96: Nuff said. ~18-24 inches in Upper Marlboro, MD, and a lot of sleet. I recall having measured 21 inches but I was like ten at the time, so I'm certain my measuring technique wasn't the appropriate one.

1/00: Being in Upper Marlboro paid off for this one. ~17-22 inches. Not a ping of sleet. Amateurishly measured around 20 inches in several spots (17,19,22,19), but looking back, 20 wasn't and isn't a bad guess as to how much we got. Snowfall maps show Upper Marlboro pretty much hit the jackpot with that one, along with northern Calvert, southern Anne Arundel and places within a 5-10 mile radius of the intersection of routes 301 (Crain Hwy) and 214 (Central avenue).

2/03: PDII. Like 1/96, a crap load of sleet held down the total, but it was a good ~19-25 inches anyway. Still measuring like an amateur, I recorded 21", 22", 19", 25" and 18" in randomly picked spots, away from drifting-vulnerable areas.

2/06: I was in Columbia, MD for this one and gratefully so. Columbia hit the jackpot with this one. Upper Marlboro ended up sitting outside the narrow, ferocious deformation band that plastered central/north-central/north-east MD, getting 8 or 10 inches that promptly melted down to a couple inches of slush by the next evening.

In Columbia, the deform band just set up shop aloft and produced a fantastic amount of snow overnight, with thunder and lightning to boot. ~18-22 inches. By then I was a better measure, finding 18", 24" and 19" in three spots. Didn't quite believe my own eyes until going to Eastern and seeing other likewise reports.

12/09: Looking back, an appropriate start to winter. ~22-26 inches in Upper Marlboro. No sleet at all, which would be the story for the 09/10 biggies. I followed NOAA guidelines when measuring, and a blizzard warning notwithstanding, the wind didn't produce much in the way of drifting. Upper Marlboro was a good spot for this one: reports showed a near-maximum on the east side of the D.C., almost due east, and then meandering north a bit to about BWI, and per radar which I closely followed, Upper Marlboro got in on some of the heavier banding in the early afternoon and early evenings hours. 21", 22", 26", and 24" in the spots I picked.

2/10(1): I was in N.E. D.C., certainly not the best location for this one (that was central MD/N+E and out towards IAD), but in a general 20-35 inch storm, what's several inches, or even a clean foot, between inter-region friends. ~23-27 inches. I know everyone says this, but the snowfall rates from around 830pm on 2/5 through 2am on 2/6 were just unbelievable. I got very anxious watching radar around 1230/1am on the sixth because the dry-slot was approaching from the south rather quickly. I wasn't quite sure whether the pivot, which was showing up on radar but much less impressively than the dry-slot, would save D.C. in time to prevent a lapse (though I distinctly remember thinking that areas north of a line from BWI-IAD were sitting comfortably and would clearly benefit from the pivot, unlike D.C. It was a little too much pressure watching radar, and I'd worn the F5 to smithereens, so I decided on a nap after thirty straight hours awake.

In fact, as radar later showed, the pivot flexed just in time to keep D.C. in snow, though heavier bands had pushed north and west. But thanks to some pretty classic back-building, and a precipitation shield that intensified, then collapsed from north to south (a signal of all three 09/10 biggies and smaller ones like 1/30/10 too), the snowfall rate picked up around 6 or 630am, sustaining until 2pm or so, before finally winding down and shutting off rather suddenly at 3pm: within the hour, the sun was out, and by sunset the sky was almost clear.

The four-hour lull lasting from about 2am to 6/630am did inflict damage to D.C. and areas nearby, however. Those four hours essentially made the difference between measuring 32.4" at IAD, 38.3 at Elkridge, 33.8 at Laurel (among other similar totals) versus the 21-29" amounts more generally measured below the BWI-IAD line. In NE D.C., I recorded 21", 27", 24", 25" and 23" in five relatively drift-immune spots. I threw out the 21" and 27" numbers and went with 24.5". I must say, however, that eyeballing the storm's aftermath, snow piles, coverage, etc., 27" *feels* most accurate and is on par American University's measurement. Although AU is in upper NW, it lies in an area that is geographically very similar to far-flung neighborhoods in NE, such as where I was located: similar elevation, similar distance from downtown and the river, and streetscapes characterized by relatively big lots, abundant green-space, and low density.

2/10(2): Again in N.E. D.C. And again, not the best location in the area: that was back to visit the usual suspects in central MD and especially BWI/N+E. Measured 12.5" and witnessed some of the most unbelievable, unreal conditions I've ever witnessed, right up there with 8pm through 2am 2/5-6. Except this time the wind was something to be reckoned with. Measuring was basically impossible but from eyeballing 12-14" seems about right. Heck, even DCA managed to record almost a foot. Radar the night before, the ninth, looked pitiful and I figured just another Miller B-esque screw job. And so instead of pouting like I was about to do 2/5-6, I went to sleep for some much-needed R&R. Woke up about 7am, looked outside, and the rest, I suppose I should say, is history. Kept up snowing all day too till midnight. Incredible whiteouts were really something to behold. 12-14" may not in keeping with the 18"+ list I've got going here, but it is definitely deserving of a spot on my once-in-a-lifetime.

That's a total of 7! Seven once-in-a-lifetimes. That's pretty cool since I'm only 25. Methinks we've entered a cycle where these once'ers are more like once-every-four years'ers. If one were to count back to when I was born, instead of when I first began tracking winter weather, one could add at most four and fewest two to the seven I've got so far. Pretty incredible stuff!!

Hey, Ger, nice summary...especially the storms from last year 2009-10!

I think the experiences in those 3 "big ones" (last year) that you relate from northeast DC were remarkably similar to mine where I live in Silver Spring, just northwest of DC. I measured 20.0" from Dec. 18-19...23.5" Feb. 5-6...and 12.0" Feb. 9-10. As in your location, I saw some incredible snow rates the night of Feb. 5, and received 13.5" from about 3PM through midnight. It did let up some through the middle of the night here, too, and I wasn't in the true "jackpot" areas like IAD or Laurel and such but it was still great. The snow did pick back up in the early morning for awhile and I still got ~5" from midnight to 7AM and another 5" from 7AM through about mid-afternoon on the 6th. The Feb. 9-10 storm was very hard to measure indeed, but the snow rates and winds were again amazing and what I put down for the amount was similar to other surrounding areas.

Feb. 2003 was the other "big one" I've witnessed here, was living in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in DC. I measured ~18" and of course there was a fair amount of sleet that held totals back, but it was still a great storm. Temperatures in the teens to near 20 throughout (even with the sleet)!! I was in the same area for Feb. 2006, which was an OK storm but definitely bigger for areas north of the District. Got about 8", which promptly disappeared within a week as it was in the 60s a few days after. Then of course, the "upper level low on steroids" this year I have to rank up there too, though it wasn't as big as the others. Still, I got 8" in Silver Spring and the snow rates along with thunder/lightning made it feel similar to Feb. 5, 2010 for awhile! The widespread power outages also added to the severity of that one (mine was out for 2 full days!).

[TJ3]

I asked my mother about some of the bigger snowstorms she can remember, as she has a much longer experience with DC-area weather (her: b. 1959, me: b. 1985). She couldn't recall many, including, to my surprise, the 1983 storm, but she did recall the '79 storm, aka PDI. At the time she was living in Baltimore attending college. However, during the storm she was in NE Washington, D.C. and her recollection was of having seen well over twenty inches, approaching perhaps thirty although her memory is a bit rusty. PDI doesn't get a lot of attention/review either here or, as far as I can tell, on other academic meteorology sites. It's not on Wikipedia. A google search turns up nothing of use. Can someone provide me with a brief synopsis of what occurred with that one? Where it originated, tracked, redeveloped, etc.?

Btw I've been around since 1985, my memory (of weather) serves going back to about 1995 (95/96 specifically) and in my almost 26 years (or 16 as memory dictates) I've had the privilege to live through a whole bunch of once-in-a-lifetime winter weather events:

1/96: Nuff said. ~18-24 inches in Upper Marlboro, MD, and a lot of sleet. I recall having measured 21 inches but I was like ten at the time, so I'm certain my measuring technique wasn't the appropriate one.

1/00: Being in Upper Marlboro paid off for this one. ~17-22 inches. Not a ping of sleet. Amateurishly measured around 20 inches in several spots (17,19,22,19), but looking back, 20 wasn't and isn't a bad guess as to how much we got. Snowfall maps show Upper Marlboro pretty much hit the jackpot with that one, along with northern Calvert, southern Anne Arundel and places within a 5-10 mile radius of the intersection of routes 301 (Crain Hwy) and 214 (Central avenue).

2/03: PDII. Like 1/96, a crap load of sleet held down the total, but it was a good ~19-25 inches anyway. Still measuring like an amateur, I recorded 21", 22", 19", 25" and 18" in randomly picked spots, away from drifting-vulnerable areas.

2/06: I was in Columbia, MD for this one and gratefully so. Columbia hit the jackpot with this one. Upper Marlboro ended up sitting outside the narrow, ferocious deformation band that plastered central/north-central/north-east MD, getting 8 or 10 inches that promptly melted down to a couple inches of slush by the next evening.

In Columbia, the deform band just set up shop aloft and produced a fantastic amount of snow overnight, with thunder and lightning to boot. ~18-22 inches. By then I was a better measure, finding 18", 24" and 19" in three spots. Didn't quite believe my own eyes until going to Eastern and seeing other likewise reports.

12/09: Looking back, an appropriate start to winter. ~22-26 inches in Upper Marlboro. No sleet at all, which would be the story for the 09/10 biggies. I followed NOAA guidelines when measuring, and a blizzard warning notwithstanding, the wind didn't produce much in the way of drifting. Upper Marlboro was a good spot for this one: reports showed a near-maximum on the east side of the D.C., almost due east, and then meandering north a bit to about BWI, and per radar which I closely followed, Upper Marlboro got in on some of the heavier banding in the early afternoon and early evenings hours. 21", 22", 26", and 24" in the spots I picked.

2/10(1): I was in N.E. D.C., certainly not the best location for this one (that was central MD/N+E and out towards IAD), but in a general 20-35 inch storm, what's several inches, or even a clean foot, between inter-region friends. ~23-27 inches. I know everyone says this, but the snowfall rates from around 830pm on 2/5 through 2am on 2/6 were just unbelievable. I got very anxious watching radar around 1230/1am on the sixth because the dry-slot was approaching from the south rather quickly. I wasn't quite sure whether the pivot, which was showing up on radar but much less impressively than the dry-slot, would save D.C. in time to prevent a lapse (though I distinctly remember thinking that areas north of a line from BWI-IAD were sitting comfortably and would clearly benefit from the pivot, unlike D.C. It was a little too much pressure watching radar, and I'd worn the F5 to smithereens, so I decided on a nap after thirty straight hours awake.

In fact, as radar later showed, the pivot flexed just in time to keep D.C. in snow, though heavier bands had pushed north and west. But thanks to some pretty classic back-building, and a precipitation shield that intensified, then collapsed from north to south (a signal of all three 09/10 biggies and smaller ones like 1/30/10 too), the snowfall rate picked up around 6 or 630am, sustaining until 2pm or so, before finally winding down and shutting off rather suddenly at 3pm: within the hour, the sun was out, and by sunset the sky was almost clear.

The four-hour lull lasting from about 2am to 6/630am did inflict damage to D.C. and areas nearby, however. Those four hours essentially made the difference between measuring 32.4" at IAD, 38.3 at Elkridge, 33.8 at Laurel (among other similar totals) versus the 21-29" amounts more generally measured below the BWI-IAD line. In NE D.C., I recorded 21", 27", 24", 25" and 23" in five relatively drift-immune spots. I threw out the 21" and 27" numbers and went with 24.5". I must say, however, that eyeballing the storm's aftermath, snow piles, coverage, etc., 27" *feels* most accurate and is on par American University's measurement. Although AU is in upper NW, it lies in an area that is geographically very similar to far-flung neighborhoods in NE, such as where I was located: similar elevation, similar distance from downtown and the river, and streetscapes characterized by relatively big lots, abundant green-space, and low density.

2/10(2): Again in N.E. D.C. And again, not the best location in the area: that was back to visit the usual suspects in central MD and especially BWI/N+E. Measured 12.5" and witnessed some of the most unbelievable, unreal conditions I've ever witnessed, right up there with 8pm through 2am 2/5-6. Except this time the wind was something to be reckoned with. Measuring was basically impossible but from eyeballing 12-14" seems about right. Heck, even DCA managed to record almost a foot. Radar the night before, the ninth, looked pitiful and I figured just another Miller B-esque screw job. And so instead of pouting like I was about to do 2/5-6, I went to sleep for some much-needed R&R. Woke up about 7am, looked outside, and the rest, I suppose I should say, is history. Kept up snowing all day too till midnight. Incredible whiteouts were really something to behold. 12-14" may not in keeping with the 18"+ list I've got going here, but it is definitely deserving of a spot on my once-in-a-lifetime.

That's a total of 7! Seven once-in-a-lifetimes. That's pretty cool since I'm only 25. Methinks we've entered a cycle where these once'ers are more like once-every-four years'ers. If one were to count back to when I was born, instead of when I first began tracking winter weather, one could add at most four and fewest two to the seven I've got so far. Pretty incredible stuff!!

Ger- great post. Your mom is dead on. I have mentioned this storm many times at Eastern. It is the main reason I have this sick hobby. I can't give you a good synoptic situation but my memory will never forget. I was 15 at the time and have lived in NoVa my entire life. You are right, it is becoming the forgotten storm. But for me, it was single greatest snow event I have ever witnessed. I have seen storms with more wind and longer duration. But for sheer snow rates, quite honestly, nothing else even comes close and I have been here for all of them since. Most stats will show the greatest consistent totals south and east of city. However, some serious bands made it just N & W in a few places, particularly over Mclean and Falls Church. I was under one of them in the pre dawn hours Monday into mid-late morning. Three-four inches per hour easy. Started late am or early pm Sunday. I think temp was around 19. Came down at good clip all afternoon and backed off some late at night. Then all hell broke loose. I believe the center of this storm was a little further off the coast compared to most storms that bring heavy snow here but I may be wrong on that. I tried to tell my kids about it during last winters fun but they have no reference. I wish someone else here how experienced it could give better technical detail. In my mind, all the great ones in D.C since then can't touch it. Too bad it is slipping off the radar. Maybe Wes can provide some real details. I saw a comment he made recently about the incredible rates associated with PD 1 in another thread.

[Sparky]

For PD1 I remember getting about 10 inches of snow between 7-10am with very gusty NE winds in NE Baltimore. Wound up with a whopping 20 inches which fell on top of a foot of snow already on the ground from 2 previous storms.It was the most snow I had seen on the ground at one time until Jan 96 in Westminster, which was topped last year in Feb 2010. Feb 2010 beat out the others by a country mile with about 50 level inches following the 2 blizzards.

When I think of really heavy snowfall rates for several hours in a row I think of PD1 first. Other storms have come close for much shorter periods of time but PD1 is champ. Feb 83 was pretty good for awhile and so was the remarkable wet snowstorm of Feb 87. Feb 9-10 last year was pretty awesome for awhile too.

Lest I forget, Jan 26 of this year had me thinking back to PD1 for a time it was really coming down hard with a lot of wind totalling 12.5 inches.

The edit function on here is acting crazy.

[BlizzardNole]

I would love to see Wes' take on that storm, especially if he was in Calvert County at the time (where he lives now). I was in Calvert then, just south of Dunkirk, which was the hardest hit of the area in that storm. I don't know of any official measurements from there, but my guess would be 30-35 inches. The wind and snowfall rate were incredible, and surpass anything I've seen since. I do remember hearing that we got 5" in one hour at one point.

My mother and a friend went outside in the height of it to see what the road looked like and they seriously almost got lost just 50 feet from the house - it was THAT bad. Also, at times you could not see the woods behind the house at all, and that's probably 70 feet away. Basically, picture the heaviest rates from the PSUHoffman storm, combine with 50 mph wind, going for several hours straight. We had drifts that were well over 6 feet in spots.

[usedtobe]

I would love to see Wes' take on that storm, especially if he was in Calvert County at the time (where he lives now). I was in Calvert then, just south of Dunkirk, which was the hardest hit of the area in that storm. I don't know of any official measurements from there, but my guess would be 30-35 inches. The wind and snowfall rate were incredible, and surpass anything I've seen since. I do remember hearing that we got 5" in one hour at one point.

My mother and a friend went outside in the height of it to see what the road looked like and they seriously almost got lost just 50 feet from the house - it was THAT bad. Also, at times you could not see the woods behind the house at all, and that's probably 70 feet away. Basically, picture the heaviest rates from the PSUHoffman storm, combine with 50 mph wind, going for several hours straight. We had drifts that were well over 6 feet in spots.

Les George lived in calvert at that time, I lived in Bowie. He measured 28 inches. That was the heaviest in the area. The snowfall rates in Bowie were unbelievable, 3 or 4 inches and hour for several hours. I couldn't see the house across the street. I'm guessing that Calvert county had the same snowfall rates but for a little longer.

[Ji]

Of course most of this board's population was not living, but it's a shame that older folks are starting to forget about PD I. In fact the entire month of February 1979 was an impressive one for the Mid Atlantic and Northeast. For Richmond, it ranks as the 2nd coldest February on record with an average monthly temperature of 28.6°F. It's also our 3rd snowiest February with 19.5" altogether. PD I itself delivered 10.9" officially the 18-19th. And with that, the official temperature at Richmond ranged from 9°F to 10°F from 1pm to 7pm during the height of the event on the 18th. This is the coldest snowstorm I can find for Richmond probably rivaling the blizzard of February 1899.

There are a couple of other things that makes this month so unique for central VA. For one, Richmond Airport recorded 17 consecutive days with a daily snow depth of 1 inch or greater. This is just two days shy of the record 19 days set in 1948. Looking at the below data, you can see that a solid 4 inch snowcover persisted much of the month before peaking at 14" on the 19th. Richmond also recorded two consecutive days with a low temperature below 0°F. The -8°F reading on the 10th is the 3rd coldest temperature since observations for record began in 1897.

 
Richmond Byrd Int'l Airport, VA
Daily Data Listing
Feb 1, 1979 - Feb 28, 1979

Date          MaxT  MinT  Pcpn  Snow  Snwg
02/01/1979      40    25  0.00   0.0 	T
02/02/1979      43    18  0.00   0.0 	0
02/03/1979      34    19  0.01   0.2 	0
02/04/1979      53    27  0.00   0.0 	0
02/05/1979      36    22  0.00   0.0 	0
02/06/1979      31    13 	T 	T 	0
02/07/1979      28    23  0.67   6.4 	5
02/08/1979      44    10  0.00   0.0 	5
02/09/1979      29 	8  0.08   1.6 	3
02/10/1979      32    -8  0.00   0.0 	4
02/11/1979      23    -1 	T 	T 	4
02/12/1979      36    16  0.01   0.4 	4
02/13/1979      27 	8 	T 	T 	4
02/14/1979      28 	7 	T 	T 	4
02/15/1979      35    25 	T   0.0 	4
02/16/1979      36    19  0.00   0.0 	3
02/17/1979      21 	8  0.00   0.0 	3
02/18/1979      14 	6  0.36   7.2 	3
02/19/1979      40    10  0.25   3.7    14
02/20/1979      44 	3  0.00   0.0    13
02/21/1979      50    27  0.10   0.0 	8
02/22/1979      56    37  0.00   0.0 	3
02/23/1979      48    35  0.48   0.0 	T
02/24/1979      43    38  2.64   0.0 	0
02/25/1979      44    39  1.36   0.0 	0
02/26/1979      44    37  0.01   0.0 	0
02/27/1979      53    30  0.00   0.0 	0
02/28/1979      59    28  0.00   0.0 	0

wow on 2/23/1979-2/26/1979 near miss. Someone close by must of got plastered on the east coast

[Fozz]

wow on 2/23/1979-2/26/1979 near miss. Someone close by must of got plastered on the east coast

It was probably an inland runner or cutter. Keep in mind that 1979 was an epic winter for Chicago.

[mitchnick]

wow on 2/23/1979-2/26/1979 near miss. Someone close by must of got plastered on the east coast

not at BWI

I vividly remember both events

it was a depressing rainstorm that followed and winter ended that year with PDI in similar fashion to last winter after 2/10

it was over and it got warm that spring too

[BlizzardNole]

Oh yeah I remember just three or so days after the big snow we were in the 50s with rain. PDI was a big pattern changer and spring came quickly. What a stretch it was starting with a nice 8-inch snow on Feb 7, then several more little events leading up to the Blizzard of 79 - one of the main things that makes me the snow goose that I am.

[Chris L]

I would love to see Wes' take on that storm, especially if he was in Calvert County at the time (where he lives now). I was in Calvert then, just south of Dunkirk, which was the hardest hit of the area in that storm. I don't know of any official measurements from there, but my guess would be 30-35 inches. The wind and snowfall rate were incredible, and surpass anything I've seen since. I do remember hearing that we got 5" in one hour at one point.

My mother and a friend went outside in the height of it to see what the road looked like and they seriously almost got lost just 50 feet from the house - it was THAT bad. Also, at times you could not see the woods behind the house at all, and that's probably 70 feet away. Basically, picture the heaviest rates from the PSUHoffman storm, combine with 50 mph wind, going for several hours straight. We had drifts that were well over 6 feet in spots.

35 inches of snow in how many hours? That is absolutely incredible.

[TJ3]

35 inches of snow in how many hours? That is absolutely incredible.

I don't remember it being any more than 24 hours. If longer certainly not by much. I remember it starting around late moring on Sunday and it being over by mid-late morning on Monday. But the crazy stuff was the last quarter of the storm.

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Les George lived in calvert at that time, I lived in Bowie. He measured 28 inches. That was the heaviest in the area. The snowfall rates in Bowie were unbelievable, 3 or 4 inches and hour for several hours. I couldn't see the house across the street. I'm guessing that Calvert county had the same snowfall rates but for a little longer.

Too bad I was not in the area for PD-I, as I was still in northeast OH in like 6th grade at the time! But I recall hearing about it (and reading about it), and sounds like an amazing experience! I suppose the closest I've seen in terms those kinds of big snow rates since I've been here (for almost 10 years now) is the Feb. 5-6 storm last winter. Well, at least for a "synoptic" system; I have seen several inch per hour snow rates in some lake effect bands in OH (Edit: for example, the Nov. 1996 lake effect event that dumped 50"-plus in about a 4 day period, over several areas in the northeast OH snowbelt).

[Sparky]

35 inches of snow in how many hours? That is absolutely incredible.

35 inches is too high. Kocin's map of that storm has a 27 inch that looks to be around northern Calvert co./southern AA county but most of the 20+ reports are in the lower 20s. In his individual city listings Dover DE was the highest with 25 inches and Baltimore took second place with 20 inches. The dark blue indicating 20-30 range is centered on Calvert Co. and the counties on the eastern shore due east of Calvert stretching into Delaware. It also stretches to the north of Baltimore (let's say Cockeysville ) westward toward Columbia/south Carroll county. Great storm with mighty cold temperatures akin to PD2!!!!!! but with much gustier winds at its height Monday morning. Actually, I recall the winds beginning to roar around 2am (NE Baltimore) which was not really forecasted which made me giddy staying up watching the storm intensify really great memory.

[RIC Airport]

[Kevin Druff]

Going to Civil War geek out here for a minute... this would be a great image to demonstrate how Stonewall Jackson was able to use the Luray Valley as a hiding location to whack at the Yanks in the Shenandoah Valley. The snow cover definitely makes it very easy to see how small the Luray is and how, to someone not familiar with the area, even from the south it looks like it goes nowhere.

The snow almost looks like a flowing river in the Shenandoah and really emphasizes the thin ridge of Massanutten Mountain ... great shot.