real

3 to 8 inches over two days is rather under-whelming, especially for us in the city and close-in suburbs. You really need to have consistent snow and at least some good rates to keep more than you lose due to melting, etc, Yes, it will look nice seeing flakes falling. But 3 or 4 inches over 2 days in the city will be almost as much annoyance as it is joy.

Yes. Baltimore City flipped to sleet like 8 p.m. that night during PDII, and it sleeted till dawn, when it briefly flipped back to heavy snow. Had it stayed all snow, which I think it did as close as Reistertown area, Baltimore City would have easily eclipsed 3 feet from that storm.

One thing that has also changed, due to Internet access and better modeling, etc, is forecasters in DC region used to be extremely skeptical of ever saying more than a foot of snow was possible, until literally a day before hand. Even PD11, I think it was well into Friday (before a storm that hit Saturday night), that most common folks even had any idea that a major storm of more than 6 to 8 inches was coming. The legacy and trauma of being burnt bad on the big 2000 East Coast bust was real and long-lasting.

I don't recall that, but perhaps no one seriously believed it, because it was still mid-December (and was hesitant to believe we could get a record December snowfall). Also by that point it had been 6 years since we had a big storm DC, so people may have just been extremely skeptical it was possible.

The only major DC snowstorm of past 15 years or so that I recall being not well-modeled ahead of time and kind of sneaking up on us, was the December 2009 storm. I recall even on the Thursday on the day before the storm, the morning forecasts were still for maybe 4 to 8 inches. And by afternoon, it was looking like 8 to 12 inches. And then that the evening, less than 24 hours before the snow started, forecasts started hinting at a foot plus

I agree. Even two years ago, DC had a snowstorm that lasted 2 days, and dropped a foot from Saturday morning through Sunday evening. It was a great storm, but I imagine most people don't even remember it, because it was easy to forget. And that stayed all snow, for two days, but I think because there was a lull, there was considerable melting during the lull, especially in the city.

I think in Washington DC proper, it's this... Maybe a tad different in Baltimore and suburbs north and west SECS -- 4 to 12 MECS -- 12 to 18 HECS 18 to 30 BECS 30 Plus

Just flipped to predominately light snow in Shaw DC

mostly rain in DC, but a few pingers can be heard sporadically.

We have had ice events. I've even seen non-salted downtown DC sidewalks covered in ice at times, including one storm a few years ago that started in the evening and persisted into the next afternoon. What i have never seen, and which the media almost always over hypes beforehand, is an ice event that actually results in ice-covered streets, except for perhaps some side streets in far Upper Northwest DC

Kind of odd how many people have told me in past few days -- ranging from friends to the grocery clerk -- that "I hear a snowstorm is coming for Christmas" or "I hear we are going to have a White Christmas".... Who is spreading this? And based off what this far ahead of time? That frontal passage??? I haven't watched local weather, but are they really already saying this? If so, seems like somebody is setting people up for a possible big disappointment. ...

Heavy Snow/Sleet mix in Downtown DC, but in last few minutes sleets seems to be winning out. Big ice pellets. But all streets covered in white now

After a brief lull, Moderate snow in Downtown DC. Even heavily traveled, salted, roads turning slushy.

Still seems to be all snow in Downtown DC. -- Officially a car topper event but not sticking to pavement.

Already seems to be more sleet pellets than flurries falling in downtown Washington DC

Flurries, borderline Light Snow, in Downtown Washington DC

The gradient even within the inner and outer (if-they-formally existed) Beltways could also be interesting. But frankly, in all my years of living in Washington, there have not been a lot of times where I lived downtown and was super jealous because someone in middle or lower Montgomery County or Fairfax County got a lot more snow than I did. There was a big storm around 2004 where DC got like 4 inches of snow and Columbia in Howard County got like 24 inches. There was also that March bust storm a few years ago where DC got almost nothing while parts of Fairfax may have gotten 6 inches. But those seem rather rare, lately, in part because may the suburbs are becoming denser and warmer too. DC versus upper Montgomery/Frederick/Carroll/Loudoun/Northern Baltimore County is a different situation.

I voted for Feb. 5 2010, but it was a tough decision between that and Feb. 2003. I wasn't around for Jan 1996, so ignored that. In Feb 2003, I was living in Baltimore and remember how it came as sort of a surprise. The evening news on that Friday was predicting like 8 to 12 inches -- a sizable storm, but nothing to panic over. And then on that Saturday, it sort of seemed like the storm could be a bust. What little fell that morning was quickly cleaned off the streets. And i recall hearing news reports that night that the snow had hit northern Virginia. So I went to bed, but woke up that Sunday morning, like 5 a.m., and there was already like 3 inches on the ground in downtown Baltimore. And then thunder snow -- very loud . And as the day progressed, it just dumped snow for hours. By evening, the drifts in city streets were waist high. But then about 10 p.m., it turned to sleet. That changeover was the only thing that kept accumulations in the city closer to 2 feet instead of 3 feet or more. By Monday morning, however, there was another quick burst of heavy snow that added an inch or two o totals. And the streets in Baltimore were a mess for days.The snow and sleet compacted into thick hardened mounds that were nearly impossible to clear off. And the mayor at the time, maybe O'Malley??, had to request the National Guard. That was the only time I remember seeing National Guard Humvees deployed for a real emergency. Still, its hard to separate Feb. 5 2010 from what happened 4 days later, so I voted for that. Plus, the build-up and model-watching for that storm gave you the true experience of preparing for a major storm.

Still surprised that surprisingly large and north dry slot stopped just about there due to the pivot. Pretty sure it was never modeled to be anywhere close to NOVA, but goes to show you large storms can have large dry slots that aren't always well forecast. Some folks in Ill and Ind discovered that this week.