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Where are some good places to live near DC to maximize snow potential?


Hoosier
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3 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

Hi y'all.

I was wondering if you could suggest some places that are relatively close to DC (say within 30-45 minutes away) that do well in the snow department?  I am totally unfamiliar with the area.

Umm there are places in DC that aren’t within 30-45 minutes of DC during rush hour. 

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4 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

Hi y'all.

I was wondering if you could suggest some places that are relatively close to DC (say within 30-45 minutes away) that do well in the snow department?  I am totally unfamiliar with the area.

But if you want a serious answer go northwest and totals rise gradually but then spike significantly near Damascus where you get an elevator rise along the southern end of Parr’s ridge. Damascus is the closest (relative) location with a significantly better snow climo. 

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Hi y'all.
I was wondering if you could suggest some places that are relatively close to DC (say within 30-45 minutes away) that do well in the snow department?  I am totally unfamiliar with the area.


I think this is relatively obvious but you want to be outside the Beltway as much as possible and as NW as possible (towards elevation).

For example, I lived in NW Arlington, and I consistently did better than DCA 15-20 minutes away on a god day) snowwise. NW DC also does pretty well.

Rockville has been a good place to be for snow the past couple years, though with traffic that pushes the 40 minute rule.
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3 hours ago, Hoosier said:

Hi y'all.

I was wondering if you could suggest some places that are relatively close to DC (say within 30-45 minutes away) that do well in the snow department?  I am totally unfamiliar with the area.

NW Montgomery county is a good spot if you want to be relatively close to DC and also be on the winning side of many marginal storms. Clarksburg and Gaithersburg are pretty good spots for that. Damascus is a great spot for snow, but it's about an hour away, so long commutes would be the tradeoff. 

If you're looking at Virginia, then Reston, Sterling, or anywhere close to IAD would help. Even Tyson's Corner and Vienna do well in a lot of storms, though they are expensive and upscale.

Here's a clearer version of the map psuhoffman posted. It's pretty accurate for the most part (though it's a bit old and based on 1971-2000 averages), but I'd say that in many of the north/west spots, it might even be slightly underdone (Damascus for example probably averages 30).kJDor82.gif

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In DC, elevation and latitude are key.  The area experiences several marginal events on the bookends of winter that make or break for your seasonal snowfall totals.  Living north of Interstate 70 or west of Maryland Route 97 will put you in a good spot in Maryland.  As others mentioned Damascus / Mt. Airy / Lisbon are always money. Going further out, Emmittsburg or Thurmont in Frederick County are always money.  West of Dulles Airport in Virginia is also a good spot.

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23 hours ago, Eskimo Joe said:

In DC, elevation and latitude are key.  The area experiences several marginal events on the bookends of winter that make or break for your seasonal snowfall totals.  Living north of Interstate 70 or west of Maryland Route 97 will put you in a good spot in Maryland.  As others mentioned Damascus / Mt. Airy / Lisbon are always money. Going further out, Emmittsburg or Thurmont in Frederick County are always money.  West of Dulles Airport in Virginia is also a good spot.

Loudoun County in VA usually does well, similar to areas Maryland like Carroll.  It varies some year to year, but I lived in Carroll County in the 90s and Loudoun for the last 12 years or so and found the performance on big storms and marginal events to be similar.

I was here during the famed "snoquester" fail for DC and we did 8"+ while areas 15 miles east got rain.

 

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23 hours ago, Hoosier said:

Thanks for the info.

I average 3 feet where I live now, so would be looking at a downgrade.  Ultimately it's going to take a lot to get me out of the Midwest (I like living here and most of my family is here) but it's serious enough to start thinking about this.

Clarksburg has been a good happy medium between the benefits of elevation and distance from the UHI of DC vs. commute times.  For me, anyways.  

If you like big, synoptic storms, Clarksburg and the rest of Parr's ridge running NE through MD is not bad.  For example, there have been two storms in Clarksburg just in the last decade that have exceeded the largest storm in Indiana history (26" in St. Josephs County in 2011) with that number increasing to 4 in places 10-20 miles NE up Parr's ridge.  Those places NE tend to put you away from reasonable commute times to DC.  For Clarksburg context, In the last decade, there were those two 26"+ storms (33.6" and 28.0") but the numbers for significant but not-as-large storms increase to 3 storms of 20+", 5 storms of 15+" and 7 storms of 12+" in the last decade.  Not bad for what is effectively the south.  Also, for context regarding commute times; if I leave my house at 6am, I get to work a block west of the White House in 40-42 minutes.  If I leave at 6:15am, it can take 1.5 hours.  If I leave at 6:30am, it can take two hours.  Big incentive to get out the door in the morning.  That's for like 35 of the 52 weeks of the year.  The others, (summer, holiday weeks, etc...) are much more reasonable.

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Gaithersburg is probably the ideal spot if you want convenience to DC. As was mentioned before, the farther north and west you get from DC and the Beltway, the better you do especially in marginal setups. This is the farthest northwest spot you can go while still being close to the Metro (Shady Grove on the red line). It's also considerably cheaper than NoVa or anywhere inside the Beltway.

This area also jackpotted during the 2016 Blizzard with just under 40 (!) inches. 

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