D.C. area sees first snow of season -- most in nearly 2 years for some
Up to an inch or two fell north and west of the District just hours after temperatures soared to 60 degrees.
The storm system that produced a rainy Sunday across the Washington region drew in enough cold air for precipitation to switch to snow in the pre-dawn hours Monday. The slushy snow even delayed a few school systems Monday morning.
Rain switched to snow from northwest to southeast between about midnight and 2 a.m. The snow fell heavily at times through 4 a.m. Even though snow mostly accumulated on grassy areas, it came down hard enough for a bit of slush to build up on roads for a time — even well-traveled ones like the Beltway and Interstate 66. Claps of thunder even accompanied the snow in Glen Burnie, Md.
Remarkably, the snow followed temperatures that soared to 60 degrees between 6 and 7 p.m. Sunday before a cold front barreled through, dropping them about 25 degrees in six hours. Most places at low elevations remained at or above freezing (between about 32 and 36 degrees) as it snowed, but the flakes fell hard enough for the modest accumulation.
From the Beltway and points east, snow totals were generally under an inch, but around 0.5 to 2.5 inches fell in colder areas to the west and north. These amounts exceeded most forecasts for just a slushy coating.
In some areas, the snow exceeded totals for all of last winter. The 0.5 inches that fell at Dulles International Airport topped the 2022-2023 winter total of 0.4 inches, for example. However, not enough snow fell to end the airport’s record-long streak without at least one inch of snow on a calendar day.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/12/11/dc-first-snow-storm-slush/?
