needbiggerboat Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 We seem to be stacking up notable weather and climate related events in recent times. What are your most impressive DC area experiences, based on your frame of reference? Top 3, 5 or 10. It could be a brief event, or a whole season. I've been in the area since 77, so I'll start with my top 10: March 2012 - Anomalous warmth. It's not over yet, but any month approaching +10 is insane. September 2003 - Aftermath of Isabel. Neighbors and friends lost homes and cars. Potomac flood waters stopped 50 feet from my doorstep. Winter 09/10 - The obvious benchmark for anomalous seasonal snowfall. Feb 10, 2010 - Morning blizzard conditions. It was quick, but amazing. July 2011 - Anomolous heat. A good preview for those of us going to hell. Feb 5-6, 2010. 30 inches of snow IMBY. Feb 2003 - PD II. Took me days to dig out my car. Winter of 1987. Snowfall. Missed many days of school that I didn't need to make up. Feb 2007. Sleetfest. Digging sleet sucks. Jan 1996 - Snowfall. Former champion now takes a backseat to others, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN Transplant Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 In the area since '04 Top 10 1) Feb 5/6, 2010 - Not really a question. When coupled with 9/10, our street didn't get plowed for a week. The one that everyone has a story for. 2) July 2011 heat - I put this one a step above because it is not only the hottest July, but hottest month on record 3) March 2012 heat - this is just absurd 4) Summer 2010 heat and 90° records (incl June 2010 record) 5) Tropical Storm Lee remnants Sept 2011 (10"+ IMBY) 6) Dec 19, 2009 - my first big east coast storm 7) Feb 9/10 superband - classic northern plains looking blizzard, rated lower because I only got 9" or so 8) June 4th 2008 Derecho - for the radar alone (and the loss of power for 2 days) 9) June 25/26, 2006 thunderstorms - over 9" at DCA 10) Spring 2010 record warmth - overlooked, but once the snow melted, we were off to the races Honorable Mention Oct 7/8, 2005 rain - tropical remnants totaling over 7" at DCA. Five consecutive 6 hourly totals of 1"+ Sleetfest Feb '07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattie g Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I'll just go with a couple recent events: - Early-February snowfall in 2010 - September 8, 2011 deluge - December 18-19, 2009 snowstorm I only really started following/remembering weather events in the last couple years, which is why my frame of reference is pretty small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozz Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 2009-10 winter KU storms Remnants of TS Lee This month's heat PDII Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoast NPZ Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 We seem to be stacking up notable weather and climate related events in recent times. What are your most impressive DC area experiences, based on your frame of reference? Top 3, 5 or 10. It could be a brief event, or a whole season. I've been in the area since 77, so I'll start with my top 10: March 2012 - Anomalous warmth. It's not over yet, but any month approaching +10 is insane. September 2003 - Aftermath of Isabel. Neighbors and friends lost homes and cars. Potomac flood waters stopped 50 feet from my doorstep. Winter 09/10 - The obvious benchmark for anomalous seasonal snowfall. Feb 10, 2010 - Morning blizzard conditions. It was quick, but amazing. July 2011 - Anomolous heat. A good preview for those of us going to hell. Feb 5-6, 2010. 30 inches of snow IMBY. Feb 2003 - PD II. Took me days to dig out my car. Winter of 1987. Snowfall. Missed many days of school that I didn't need to make up. Feb 2007. Sleetfest. Digging sleet sucks. Jan 1996 - Snowfall. Former champion now takes a backseat to others, IMHO. Don't think I can come up with 10 at the moment, but my tops out here in the Shenandoah Valley would be... 1. Jan 6 -8, 1996 - Snowfall. Nothing else measures up in my lifetime. 37 inches measured inside town limits of Front Royal. 2. Feb 1983 - Snowfall. Second greatest snowfall. 10 - 13F, thundersnow, and 32 inches in Warren County in under 16 hours. 3. Oct 10, 1979 - Snowfall. Surprise snowstorm in the middle of the night, intense thundersnow, 14" in Warren County by morning. Unbelievable tree damage. 4. Winter 09-10. 60" total in Front Royal, not as much as most locations to the east, but the most I've ever measured in a winter. 5. Summer 2010. Started in early April and lasted until almost October. I believe we had 7 or 8 100F+ that year, and too many 90F+ days to count. 6. July 2011. Just F'in brutal. All-time highest temp of 107F. That it came on the heels of the eipic 2010 summer just made it worse. 7. Feb 2003 - Snowfall. Double storms, and temps around 3F during the Sunday snowstorm. 21" total. 8. Jan 1985 - Cold. Artic outbreak Inauguration day weekend. Remember the highs falling into negative territory throughout the day on Sat with ridiculous wind and resulting wind chills. Beleive a record low of -12F was reached that next night. 9. Nov 1985 - Record flooding on the Shenandoah. Schools closed for almost a week. 10. Sep 2003. Isabel. Effects not that great out here, some river flooding, and moderate flash flooding, but it's not often a legitimate tropical storm impacts our area. I was alive for Agnes ('72?) but was too young to recall it. Ok, I did come up with 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onel0126 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Tie 1.) Feb 2010 snowfall 1.) Apr 2002 F5 (later downgraded to F4) La Plata tornado. Still have never seen anything like it. Tenth anniversary next month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Chill Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 2009 July severe storm. By far the highest winds I've seen in a t-storm. Estimates were in the 70mph range in Moco. Had some serious tree damage and took a branch through the roof and flooded my dining room. I was in awe at the wind gusts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deck Pic Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 quick and dirty in chron order...been in DC metro since 9/80.....except for 8/90 to 12/94 Blizzard of 1983 Veterans day 1987 Jan 6-13 1996 Jan 25, 2000 PD2 Isabel June 2006 VD 2007 2009-10 winter Summer 2010/2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVclimo Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Lived in the burbs from 9/82 to 8/06. The biggest impacts on me personally were: 1) Feb 1983- Had it all 2) Jan 1996- Snowbound 3) Jul 2005- Microburst with 70-90 mph winds when I was preparing to leave work for the night. 4) Jan/Feb 1994- Epic Ice and Cold 5) Sep 2003- Power out for 5 days and a tree through the house directly across my street 6) Jun 2006- Awesome flooding 7) Jan 1987- Best snow cover in my time there 8) Feb 2003- Nice long event, but never snowed in 9) Jan 1985- A great cold wave 10) Tie between Nov 1987 and Jan 2000 for the great surprises Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormitecture Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (not in order of importance) for my 30 odd years of living: 2002 LaPlata Tornado (10th anniversary this April 28th!!!) 1983 Blizzard 2002/03 Winter Season & PDII 2009/10 Winter Season 1990 Kensington Tornado (cause it hit my house...almost killed me) 1999 Hurricane Floyd (although not really that bad right in DC) There was a heat wave in the 1990s, but not sure it counts since I don't remember much. Would have been on the list if I was in town when it happened: College Park Tornado 1999 Ice Storm (Jan) 1998 Frostburg Tornado (although it is a stretch for DC area) Hurricane Isabel remnants Hurricane Ivan remnants/Tornado outbreak Honorable Mention: 2011 VA Earthquake Future: American Weather Conference II (July 2012) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eurojosh Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Isabel was great - I was trapped by the rising waters in the middle of the Georgetown waterfront and had to wade waist-deep to Virginia Avenue. There was also a microcell in August of '01, I think it was, that dropped 3" in about ten minutes, in the same area It was insane - flooded all the roads around me for several hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Feb 5-10, 2010 June 2008 June 2006 Heat -- all the time? April 27-28 2011 was interesting but lacked a tornado hitting DC so im tempted to leave it off the list Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOVAForecaster Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Here's Mine: (Not in order) Isabel Last Year's flooding (September Lee+Katia+Extratropical Deluge) Snowmaggeddon (1 and 2) 2010 October 13 2011 NE of Burke Tornado (went 2 miles from my house) Super Sleet event (2007 I think) President's Day 2003 June 5, 2008 (Had 3 separate hail events, second one had quarter size, in one day of severe weather) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormitecture Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Super Sleet event (2007 I think) Was that in like December? I do remember where we had a ton of sleet and freezing rain. I just had surgery in November, but I remember the parking area near my house was 1/4 inch thick smooth ice and I went sliding back and fourth on it (even though I was in pain and still had staples from the transplant surgery). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozz Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Was that in like December? I do remember where we had a ton of sleet and freezing rain. I just had surgery in November, but I remember the parking area near my house was 1/4 inch thick smooth ice and I went sliding back and fourth on it (even though I was in pain and still had staples from the transplant surgery). I think he's referring to the February 2007 sleetstorm around Valentine's day.............which had several inches of sleet in many areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOVAForecaster Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I think he's referring to the February 2007 sleetstorm around Valentine's day.............which had several inches of sleet in many areas. Yeah, some friends and I invented a dangerous sport called "people bowling" when a few people would stand next to each other and one would run towards them, then slide into them trying to knock them all down.... Dangerous and fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozz Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Yeah, some friends and I invented a dangerous sport called "people bowling" when a few people would stand next to each other and one would run towards them, then slide into them trying to knock them all down.... Dangerous and fun. I should probably add that storm to my list.........it was unlike any other winter storm that I can remember, and while I didn't do anything like "people bowling", I did have fun running on the ice and then letting myself slide, even though it was risky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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