On February 5 2010, one of the biggest recorded snowstorms in the Mid-Atlantic area began and would last until February 6, which also happened to be my 7th birthday. It was recorded as 17.8” at the capitol, making it tied as the fourth largest snowstorm on record. The 32.4” recorded at Dulles Airport also set a record for largest two-day snowfall. Montgomery County, Maryland (where I grew up) received the most snow with 33.5”. The storm, forever to be referred to as “Snowmageddon”, developed as an area of low pressure along the Gulf Coast that intensified rapidly. It continued to strengthen as it moved up the East Coast of the United States. A rare combination of a weak-to-moderate El Niño (wet) and a negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) (cold) combined sub-tropical moisture and cold air together over the mid-Atlantic states, resulting in unprecedented snowfall.
I remember this snowstorm took place on a weekend, as my brothers and I were at my mom’s in downtown Silver Spring, MD. I was very excited since I always loved snow. Snow in the D.C. area was significantly more fun than snow in Minnesota, as it meant the entire city shutting down since they are incapable of dealing with any amount of snow. For this storm, power outages were widespread and the Federal Government closed on four consecutive days in the storm’s aftermath. It took days for roads to be cleared and power to be restored.
When we went outside that day the streets were completely empty besides the occasional snow plow, meaning my brothers and I could play on the streets right downtown. We were complete menaces that day, playing king of the hill on snowbanks, sliding down the icy roads, even throwing snowballs at people off of the apartment balcony (which in hindsight was not smart but was very fun). My mom wanted to do something nice for my birthday so she tried to take us out to eat, but that proved extremely difficult as everything was closed. Finally we came by a diner that was seemingly the only place open in the whole city. When we asked why they were open they told us they only ever close on Christmas, and they haven’t ever broken that rule. They were very friendly to all the desperate customers they had that day, and were even nice enough to give me a piece of cake when they found out it was my birthday.
The most inconvenient thing that came from this snowstorm was that we had to go back to my dad’s that day but public transportation was not running smoothly. The buses were operating by the evening, but not very well, so we were able to get about ⅔ of the way before we were stranded. Out of pure luck, my mom’s coworker was driving by and offered us a ride. We were all able to get home safely, right on time for the Super Bowl. We were lucky enough to not have our power go out, so to me the storm was just a fun birthday surprise and some days off of school.
Leffler, Robert J. "Washington DC Area 2009–2010 “Snowmageddon” Winter Snowfalls Bury Historical Recrods." J Serv Climatol 5 (2011): 1-5.
Samenow, Jason. “Remembering 2010’S Snowmageddon in 10 Images and Scenes.” Washington Post, 5 Feb. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/02/05/remembering-s-snowmageddon-images-scenes/
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