Snowzilla

As winter storms pound the U.S., take a look back at a 2016 blizzard that hit Washington, D.C.

Fifty-one years ago this week, I received an early birthday present: Snow days.

A rare winter storm moved across the state of Texas on Jan. 11-12, 1973, dropping two inches of snow on the Gulf Coast town where I grew up. And boy, was it a big deal in Texas City, a place where it was more likely to be in the mid 70s in January than freezing.

At the time, the “storm” — I can see all of you northerners rolling your eyes — was the third largest on record to hit the Greater Houston area, according to the National Weather Service. On Valentine’s Day 1895, Galveston received 15 inches of snow, followed by 4.4 inches in 1960, then nothing for 13 years.

By the time the next snowfall hit my hometown, Texas was in my rearview mirror. Living in North Carolina from 1993 to 2001, I saw snow — and unfortunately, ice — regularly in Rockingham County. The largest snowfall was 15 inches in a series of storms over a two-week period in January 2000.

At the time, I was part of the “snow patrol” — the phone tree that was set up to let principals and central office staff know when schools were open, delayed, or closed —for our county’s school district. For two solid weeks, I called groggy administrators between 5:30 and 6 a.m.; one said he was hearing my voice in his sleep.

A 1998 Peanuts cartoon that I clipped and kept on a bulletin board in my Rockingham County Schools office.

Living in Northern Virginia since 2001, we’ve seen our share of ice and snow, with five storms measuring 10 inches or greater. But with one possible exception (2010’s Snowmageddon), none begin to compare to January 2016’s Snowzilla, the subject of today’s visual story.

Snowzilla rammed through our region on Jan. 22-23, dropping almost two and half feet of snow at the Dulles and Baltimore-Washington airports. Washington, D.C., received almost 18 inches — the fourth highest on record — and was hit by “thundersnow,” causing blizzard-like conditions. (It also was responsible for the largest-ever snowfall recorded at New York’s Central Park.)

Joe Frey, the husband of one of my wife’s co-workers, lived in our neighborhood at the time. A New York native with no fear of snowy roads, he asked if I wanted to take my camera and go into D.C. with him and his daughter. I couldn’t turn down that opportunity to be part of what was an eerie experience.

Here are some images I managed to get:

Coming Soon

You will receive two more posts this week — tomorrow and Saturday. First up is the start of a five-part series, an oral history of National Public Radio’s “Mountain Stage,” which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2023. In my four decades as a journalist, this is my first attempt to compile an oral history in this way; tomorrow’s installment is an explanation of what’s to come.

On Saturday, you’ll receive the third installment in my “52 Weeks” photo series. If you’ve missed the first two, check them out by clicking on the links here and here.

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