On this day in 1863, a foot of snow was observed in Georgetown in the District. That’s according to the records of the Rev. C.B. Mackee, a resident of Georgetown in the 1860s and a diarist. Mackee recorded temperatures and other weather records throughout the Civil War. While his measurement of 12 inches on April 5, 1863, predates official weather records, it represents the heaviest known April snowfall in D.C.
A separate Civil War diary from John T. Goldsmith, who was in an infantry near Fredericksburg, Virginia, reported “very stormy” conditions and “snow and rain” that day.
And on this day in 1923, a tornado touched down in Rock Creek Park in D.C. and then tore through Silver Spring, injuring four people, destroying five houses and damaging 12 more.
Here are other notables from this day:
- Average high: 64
- Average low: 45
- Record high: 87 (2023)
- Record low: 24 (1881)
- Record precipitation: 1.32 inches (1905)
- Record snowfall: 0.5 inches (1898)
