On this day in 1899, a calendar-day record 12 inches of snow fell on Washington, as a multiday, historic blizzard reached peak ferocity. Winds were sustained at 35 mph, with gusts to 48 mph, and temperatures hovered in the single digits amid the heavy snow in the District.
Over the previous two days, 7.5 inches had fallen, and an inch was to come the next day (Feb. 14). The snowstorm total of 20.5 inches ranks as the second-biggest on record in D.C. Some snow drifts on D.C. streets were as high as 10 feet.
When the storm was over on Feb. 14, snow measuring 34.2 inches was on the ground, the deepest snow cover on record (14 inches had fallen several days before the blizzard). Some refer to the 1899 blizzard as “the Snow King,” because it produced record snows from central Virginia to Connecticut, including 34 inches in Cape May, New Jersey.
Exceptionally cold weather occurred before, during and after the blizzard. Low temperatures fell into the single digits or lower for the entire week of Feb. 9 to 15, including D.C.’s all-time low of minus-15 on Feb. 11, the day the blizzard began. A few unofficial readings in the Washington area were as low as minus-25 degrees.
The frigid air affected much of the eastern United States and was described by weather historian David Ludlum as “the greatest Arctic outbreak in history.”
Here are other notables for the day:
- Average high: 48
- Average low: 31
- Record high: 74 (1999)
- Record low: 2 (1917)
- Record precipitation: 1.77 inches (1971)
- Record snowfall: 12 inches (1899)
