On this day in 1958, a calendar-day record 12.9 inches of snow fell in D.C. The snowstorm total of 14.4 inches, after another 1.5 inches on Feb. 16, is tied for the 10th biggest on record.
The storm was notorious for stranding spectators at the Bowie racetrack, where 18 inches fell. Over 13,000 fans had “trekked to the track despite ample warnings of the snow to come,” wrote The Washington Post’s Shirley Povich. “When the snows came, 2,000 remained as Bowie’s overnight guests. These included the hundreds who returned to the track after a futile getaway try, their abandoned cars looking like so many sideswiped igloos.”
Here are other notables for the day:
- Average high: 48
- Average low: 32
- Record high: 77 (1949)
- Record low: Minus-6 (1899)
- Record precipitation: 1.38 inches (1958)
- Record snowfall: 12.9 inches (1958)
