Snowstorms are stress-inducing on many levels, but the joy of a snow day lives well past youth for many of us. If you don’t believe me, just check out the chatter about the potential of a federal government closure on the night prior to an expected storm.  And as a snow lover, when snow happens in D.C., there’s usually a lot of pre-storm worrying. On rare fortunate occasions it works out almost perfect for forecasters and dreams of snow.  That was the case March 5 throughout the area. And it was glorious.  Walking in snow is a favorite pastime of mine. Especially if it’s daytime, and I am not at work behind a computer screen (truth be told, even once or twice when I was supposed to be!), I’m out among the flakes. Perhaps I am a flake.  I live in the hilly upper northwest part of the city. I made that decision partly because that’s where the snow is. While I do think Reagan National Airport reports weather accurately, I also know I almost always get more snow than they do. I have recorded 23.5 inches of snow this winter in upper northwest D.C., compared to 18.3 inches at National. That’s over about a 6.5 mile and 250 foot elevation difference.  [“I never eat October snowflakes. I always wait until January.”]  The city has a lot of topographical variety. Places up the hill from my residence almost always get more than me. The area around the National Cathedral is my easy go-to during a very marginal event — often the early and late season ones.  Therein lies the great problem with visiting the Mall for a snowstorm. It’s about the lowest elevation in the city, and surrounded by urban warmth.  Although the “postcard D.C.” is close to where I live, I generally metro everywhere, so that plus a hefty walk to a destination is usually involved. Quite often I end up psyching myself out of the trip because I feel it won’t be worth it. If I’m just going to wander in an inch or two, there are plenty of closer destinations I enjoy.  March 5 appeared to have all the necessary ingredients to make a trip to the Mall during the snow. Cold air filtering in during the event would ensure even lower elevations reached freezing (it turns out, after some convincing), and forecasts called for the biggest accumulation of the winter in that area.  On top of this, the opportunity for a solid “thump” of daytime snow is special, and March snow is special. Add all these factors together, and it’s a recipe for an extremely memorable storm, even if only a moderate one historically.  When I first arrived on the Mall last Thursday around 3 p.m. after a walk in from downtown, snow accumulation was still meager and fairly wet. Still, it reached the level where grass is fully covered, or about two inches. As I walked around for the next few hours, snow became fluffier and rates approached the one to two inch per hour level at times.  For a snow lover in the city it’s almost always not about getting the most snow, but rather “enough.” I have not ever witnessed weather events quite like the major snowstorms in 2009-2010 simply due to the fact that the city came to a total standstill.  [Photographing D.C. making snow history]  In a lot of ways, a smaller event on par with Thursday’s has a similar effect due to its timing — and in this case, its somewhat unusual nature for so late in the season. That helps set the mood.  In addition to being beautiful, the National Mall also happens to be an excellent place to judge the intensity of snow, simply by noting what landmarks you can and can’t see. For example, the Washington Monument is 1.4 miles from the Capitol and it is 0.8 miles from the Lincoln Memorial. If you’re standing at the WWII Memorial, it’s about 0.3 miles to the Washington Monument and 1/2 mile to Lincoln. I could go on, but you get the picture.  [One cold and snowy day on the National Mall]  While not necessarily hard rules, usually visibilities of ½ mile are equivalent to moderate snow. If you get to 1/4 mile or lower it is often heavy snow. At ¾ mile or greater, you’re typically dealing with light snow. Most of my Thursday walk involved moderate to occasionally heavy snowfall rates.  Besides the ways to judge intensity, the open spaces provide near-perfect overall snow spotting conditions.  Most pictures we see of the Mall come after the storm, and it’s a busy place. Footprints quickly get in the way. Not seeing footprints really is something else.  As much as the lack of people is interesting in a usually very crowded place, the quietness is also worth taking in.  [Rare mid-March snowstorm in D.C.]  Even typically bustling areas can seem eerily calm during a good snowstorm. This is of course influenced by most people staying indoors and not driving and such, but also because snow acts as a noise reducer by absorbing sound waves.  I think of it as snow tourism. I love the city’s sights and I love snow. It’s hard to imagine a better setting for a good snow than in historic parts of D.C.  Much like peak cherry blossom blooms at sunrise, wandering the Mall in the snow is something that has to be done at least once. Or if you’re like us weather weirdo photographers, something you hope to do at least once a month in winter.  Ian Livingston is a forecaster/photographer and information lead for the Capital Weather Gang. By day, Ian is a defense and national security researcher at a D.C. think tank.
If you like daytime snow, March 5 was a good one. Here's a tale of a D.C. snow tourist.