CAPITAL WEATHER GANG

A Veterans Day snowstorm totally fooled forecasters 30 years ago

By Jason Samenow
November 10, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. EST



Veterans Day services in the snow at Arlington, Va., Nov. 11, 1987. (Washington Weather)

On the eve of Veterans Day in 1987, forecasters said no more than an inch of wet snow would fall in the Washington area. Some predicted rain. Just two days before, it had been nearly 70 degrees. The air wasn’t cold enough for much snow, forecasters said, and the ground was too warm for much to stick.

But early Veterans Day morning, a gentle snow began that quickly intensified. By midmorning, snow was pouring down at a crippling clip of up to three inches an hour. Thunder boomed. Lightning flashed. A freak thunder-snowstorm was underway. ... When the storm finally relented late that afternoon, nearly a foot of snow had accumulated in Washington, a record for the month of November that stands today.

In most Washington winter storms, the heaviest snow falls west and north of the Beltway, but this time it concentrated along and just east of the Interstate 95 corridor. Parts of Prince George’s County received as many as 18 inches.



Snowfall accumulation during the Veterans Day snowstorm of 1987. Figure from American Meteorological Society report.

The surprise snowstorm caught motorists off-guard all around the region. The snow fell so hard and so fast that the Beltway turned into a parking lot. Plows could not get through and some cars remained stranded for over 24 hours. ... Suffice to say, meteorologists had egg in their face.

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By Jason Samenow
Jason Samenow is The Washington Post’s weather editor and Capital Weather Gang's chief meteorologist. He earned a master's degree in atmospheric science and spent 10 years as a climate change science analyst for the U.S. government. He holds the Digital Seal of Approval from the National Weather Association. Twitter https://twitter.com/capitalweather