I experienced 1996, 2010 and 2016 in upper MontCo, and PD 1979 surpasses them all! I was 12 and in northern Calvert which was the jackpot of the region with 30-plus inch amounts, reports of 6" in one hour, and 8 foot drifts. My mom and a friend staying with us went out at the height of the storm at around 5 am to the street about 100 feet away. They almost got lost coming back to the house and said it was snowing sideways so intensely, it was tough to breathe. I got up around 6 am and the first thing I noticed was the deck banisters cleared off and asked why'd you clear those. Mom says oh that's the wind....go look outside. I just stood there in awe of a white hurricane with winds that must have been gusting over 60 and snow filling the air completely. After the sun came up you could see how wild it was -- there are woods about 70 feet behind the house and you could not see them at all. It was just a steady roar and whiteout. After it was over there was an unbroken drift from the roof to the ground on one side. Cars were nothing but lumps.
It hit the low 40s the next two days and mid-50s three days later and the ground when it all melted was like the mud season they have up in VT. You could not walk on the grass!