On this date in 1999, a calendar-day record 8.4 inches of snow fell, surprising the region. “A snowstorm that was quicker and more powerful than expected ambushed Washington yesterday, causing hundreds of auto accidents, forcing the federal government, public schools and private offices to close early and creating a day-long traffic jam,” The Washington Post reported.
Some forecasters had predicted only a dusting. The Post’s Tony Kornheiser penned a scathing column about the forecast after the storm.
“We don’t ask much from the weatherman,” he wrote. “There are maybe three days a year when we’re truly in need of an accurate forecast. Will it snow? How deep? Tell us that and we’ll even forgive that numskull chitchat with the anchor poodle about what the humidity does to your hair.
“A dusting is what, one-quarter inch max? I got 10 inches.
“I got Norway in my back yard.”
The date is also the anniversary of March’s wettest day, when 2.79 inches fell in 1881. It was a chilly rain with a high of 45 degrees and low of 38. The soaking was part of a particularly wet March. The total monthly rainfall was 6.61 inches, making it the sixth-wettest March on record.
Here are other notables for the day:
- Average high: 54
- Average low: 37
- Record high: 80 (1964)
- Record low: 16 (1932)
- Record precipitation: 2.79 inches (1881)
- Record snowfall: 8.4 inches (1999)
