The Great DC Snowstorm (with pics!)

You may have heard or you may not have heard, but the mid-Atlantic region of the United States (roughly Virgina, Maryland, DC, Delaware and Pennsylvania) is going through an epic winter. Where I live near Washington, DC on the Maryland side, we got 27 inches of very wet snow this past weekend. And it looks like we may get yet another foot Tuesday night. All told, DC is currently nine inches away from having its snowiest winter on record.

The storm this past weekend was the biggest in decades for most of the DC region (probably since 1922), and it's simply incredible how much snow there is. I've been in upstate New York with four feet of snow, but that's the dry, powdery stuff. The very wet snow we got sticks to everything.

So... pictures:

The speed limit sign is there for cyclists; this is a trail near my house that runs for about ten miles. I decided to hike a portion of it. In normal weather, it would've been an easy 2.5 mile run. In 27 inches of snow, it was somewhat more difficult.


This is just a bridge on a portion of the trail that crosses Massachusetts Avenue. Massachusetts is also known as Embassy Row in one section because that's where the British Embassy, the Brazilian Embassy, the Vatican Embassy, and a hundred other embassies are. The Vice President also lives along Massachusetts Avenue, as do the Clintons.


Just another section of the trail.


Another bridge in a little more scenic area. This is Little Falls State Park and the bridge crosses a small creek.


Here's the small creek.


That's me in front of the small creek.


And there's my dog. He had a blast in the snow.


This was taken on Saturday after I got back from my hike. This is just looking down the street from my house and toward Massachusetts Avenue.


A panorama looking down my street earlier today (Sunday). I took this right before a bunch of us on the street had to help a neighbor get his mini-van unstuck. That took a good hour.


And that's my house with the car I took Firestarter, Jiggity, smaur and Caligula's Launderette around DC in when they visited for 18 hours back in July.

Unfortunately, the pictures really don't do this storm justice. But thanks to this storm, the federal government of the USA is officially shut down!

Haha!

Sorry Nate, I have to laugh. Looks like you have the same amount of snow I do!

All that snow looks strangely beautiful. But, at the same time, it's kind of scary.

MeadowLark wrote:Haha!

Sorry Nate, I have to laugh. Looks like you have the same amount of snow I do!

Heh, that's pretty funny

I'm loving it right now. It was especially funny to see everyone outside today either shoveling their sidewalks or just walking around. I've never seen so many people outside even when it's perfect weather much less when there's 27 inches of snow and sub-freezing.

So, that's kind of the most epic thing ever. Not that I have anything remotely similar to compare it to (does driving down a street-turned-river count at all?), but! In my part of CA, we have a similar phenomenon of people all racing outside in bad weather! Hail! You'd think the sky was falling the way we all flock to it, so rare do we see anything other than rain!

[On a totally unrelated note, your hate makes me squeal that spring training starts in under a month!]

Most of South Dakota had the same problem. But since it's South Dakota, no body cared too much.

We got hit with a massive ice storm on the 21st of January and my town didn't get power back completely until the night of the 25th. And the town where I go to school had to, in a sense, borrow electricity from a town 20 miles away. There are still some towns on the other side of the Missouri from me that don't have power or water right now. It's pretty epic.

This winter has been pretty crazy. After the ice storm, I eventually had to drive to school and on the way there, all I could notice was how many telephone and power lines were on the ground. There was a whole mile and a half stretch with only one line still standing. They still haven't gotten all of the lines back up yet. We just got 4 inches more today, I've got a late start tomorrow, and their predicting more snow. ISH!
*runs for a pencil and some paper*

This winter looks to be interesting if we keep losing power. The whole country seems to be turning white.

Im so sad. I had no snow. Well unless you count the 10 minute snowstorm that didn't even stick up here in New York snow then I had no snow... =_(

Not going to lie, I'm extremely jealous. You stole all of Canada's snow!

Kamas wrote:Not going to lie, I'm extremely jealous. You stole all of Canada's snow!

Nate, can you please send that storm up higher? To Southern Ontario? So that maybe our federal government could shut down (and the teachers' union/colleges could cool off)?

Wow, some of those pictures are pretty atmospheric. I do wonder how other countries cope with snow, considering England got about six inches this winter and the whole country seemed to stop. Roads closed, schools shut, people couldn't get to work, etc. And if we put chains on our tyres they'd chew up the road. I guess other places are more prepared?

You have such a nice house, haha. Also, well, I'm in Finland, so that looks quite normal to me. And how can you manage outside wearing just the cap on your head -- aren't you cold?

Demeter wrote:You have such a nice house, haha. Also, well, I'm in Finland, so that looks quite normal to me. And how can you manage outside wearing just the cap on your head -- aren't you cold?

It never really gets too cold here. In that picture, I think it's just barely below freezing. In fact, during most of the storm, it was just above freezing. But it stuck to the ground because it was falling so rapidly.

27 inches? That's insane.

I am so moving to Washington. =D

Wow. I want snow. 'Tisn't fair that someone who was born in NC
should never see snow again. Oh wells.

DC gets big snowfalls like this only infrequently. Last winter, we didn't get our first snowfall until March, and that was just six inches (about 1/2 meter). But 2002-2003 was a big winter with many frequent smaller snowfalls, and 1995-1996 was kind of like the one we're having now. But the last time there was a winter like 2009-2010 was in the 19th century (1898-1899 to be exact). I find it pretty funny that DC is getting socked with snow while they're having to import snow for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver!

They're now predicting we may get another 12 inches of snow (about a 1/3 meter) tomorrow night. DC just can't handle this... if you don't hear from me on Wednesday, it's because I'm buried.