On this day in 1957, 11.1 inches of snow fell in Washington, its third-biggest December snowstorm on record. The front page of The Washington Post called it the worst storm in 15 years and said that scores were injured in 100 traffic crashes. “Washington area motorists faced the hazard of ice-sheathed highways today in the wake of the 11.1-inch snowfall yesterday,” The Post wrote. “Before the fall stopped shortly after dark, the Capital and its suburbs had been blanketed with a wet coat which disrupted virtually all the activities in the network of area communities.”
The snow was a sign of things to come in the winter of 1957-1958: Accumulating snow fell in five consecutive months, producing a total of 40.4 inches, the seventh-most on record.
Here are other notables for today:
- Average high: 52
- Average low: 37
- Record high: 76 (1998)
- Record low: 15 (1896)
- Record precipitation: 1.73 inches (1900)
- Maximum snow: 11.1 inches (1957)
