DC Metro Weather: Has This Winter Been Boring?

A snowstorm being described as “epic,” “record-breaking” and “potentially historic” will bear down on southern New England Friday and into the weekend, dumping two feet or more of snow there along with high winds.

This weekend, the D.C. metro area basically will keep its status quo—temperatures in the 40s with periodic clouds and rain.

Has the D.C. metro area’s winter been boring so far?

January 2013 temperatures were about 4 degrees warmer than average.

This winter’s snowfall has been less than average. In January, the DC metro area received 3 inches of snow. February has brought just a few dustings. There has been a little bit more to the north and west in both months.

The average snowfall for our area in January (from 1981 to 2010) was 5.6 inches. The typical February has brought 4.8 inches of the white stuff. In other words, we’ve had a light season even by Northern Virginia standards.

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February of 2010 (“Snowmageddon!” “The Snowpocalypse!”) was our most recent real anomaly with 32 inches of snow in February alone, divided between two major snowstorms. (Ironically, January of 2010 was also unusually warm.)

In November, meteorologists in the DC area were divided in their predictions for this winter: WJLA’s Brian van de Graff told Patch he thought this winter would be a little colder than average and just above average precipitation going into the winter season.

The outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) in October called for approximately equal chances that the East Coast will have above or below normal precipitation and temperatures.

Despite what Punxsutawney Phil and Potomac Phil both said—that we’re expecting an early spring—it’s still winter. That means there’s still a chance for winter to act a bit more… well, wintery.

Are you happy we haven’t seen much snow this winter, or would you like to see at least one storm big enough for a snowball fight? Let us know in the comments!