Record snowfall in DC region

[Mark_NoVA]

The Washington DC region just had the largest ever December snowstorm. It was also around the 7th biggest ever recorded. Here I got about 17-18 inches.

Here is a Trachycarpus wagnerianus that is under a deck, but still had a fair amount of snow drift in:

Here are 3 T. wagnerianus and 2 Sabal brazoria. I went out several times to knock the snow off the leaves during the storm. Those stiff Waggie leaves are great for the snow. You can barely make out the leaf tips of 3 Sabal minor on the right.

[Mark_NoVA]

T. fortunei 'Taylor' form in the foreground:

Musa basjoo in the snow:

[amazondk]

Mark,

That sure looks like Global Warming to me.

dk

[Mark_NoVA]

For those of you who have not lived in a snowy region, kids LOVE the snow! Their joy kind of rubs off on everybody else, and the snow is beautiful when the sun finally comes out. Across the street is a hill that a bunch of the neighborhood kids use.

It is going to be tough getting the cars out--the snowplow came by and buried those cars in:

[Mark_NoVA]

Phyllostachys bambusoides 'AllGold':

No barbeque anytime soon!

That's it for now!

[Mark_NoVA]

Maybe I can get some carbon-offset credits for this!

  amazondk said:

Mark,

That sure looks like Global Warming to me.

dk

[amazondk]

Mark,

I used to love playing in the snow. And, the temperature did not make much difference. But, last weekend when in Montana and cleaning the sidewalk at minus 15 F. It was just plain cold.

dk

[Mark_NoVA]

Minus 15!!! No joy in that!

I shoveled snow for hours today, but it was around freezing and sunny, with the happy kids across the street sledding. When it's sunny and not windy (and not minus 15) it's just fine.

Mark

  amazondk said:

Mark,

I used to love playing in the snow. And, the temperature did not make much difference. But, last weekend when in Montana and cleaning the sidewalk at minus 15 F. It was just plain cold.

dk

[PalmatierMeg]

Mark, I grew up in Fairfax City. Your photos bring back many happy memories (sans palms, of course). Snow storms are one of the best things about childhood. And I'm glad my kids got to have those experiences before we moved to FL. Your palms look fantastic in the snow.

[Mark_NoVA]

Thanks, Meg!

Fairfax City--not far away at all! Nice to hear.

[amazondk]

  Mark_NoVA said:

Minus 15!!! No joy in that!

I shoveled snow for hours today, but it was around freezing and sunny, with the happy kids across the street sledding. When it's sunny and not windy (and not minus 15) it's just fine.

Mark

  amazondk said:

Mark,

I used to love playing in the snow. And, the temperature did not make much difference. But, last weekend when in Montana and cleaning the sidewalk at minus 15 F. It was just plain cold.

dk

Mark,

When I was about 10 years old a cold front from Canada moved into Great Falls and the temperature dropped to around 30 below I think and this was with a blizzard and winds of around 50 mph. The snow drifts were all over town. School was cancelled because of frozen pipes in many buildings including the schools. So, we put on our winter clothes and went jumping off the fence into 3 foot or so snow drifts at 30 below zero. It was a lot fun as I remember it. But, not something I do today. The snow in Great Falls a few weeks ago was real light powder so no real trouble to shovel. But, my god was it cold.

dk

[SunnyFl]

  Mark_NoVA said:

Thanks, Meg!

Fairfax City--not far away at all! Nice to hear.

How far are you from Vienna, Mark? That's the area where I grew up, and I never saw any palms growing there, not even needles or trachies so it's nice to see the palmies you've planted out. 18 inches of snow is amazing in December - your winter this year could well rival the dreadful winter of 77-78 (which necessitated our hasty return to FL).

[happ]

  Mark_NoVA said:

The Washington DC region just had the largest ever December snowstorm. It was also around the 7th biggest ever recorded. Here I got about 17-18 inches.

Here is a Trachycarpus wagnerianus that is under a deck, but still had a fair amount of snow drift in:

Here are 3 T. wagnerianus and 2 Sabal brazoria. I went out several times to knock the snow off the leaves during the storm. Those stiff Waggie leaves are great for the snow. You can barely make out the leaf tips of 3 Sabal minor on the right.

Mark

These photos would make great Christmas cards!

[Mark_NoVA]

  amazondk said:

Mark,

When I was about 10 years old a cold front from Canada moved into Great Falls and the temperature dropped to around 30 below I think and this was with a blizzard and winds of around 50 mph. The snow drifts were all over town. School was cancelled because of frozen pipes in many buildings including the schools. So, we put on our winter clothes and went jumping off the fence into 3 foot or so snow drifts at 30 below zero. It was a lot fun as I remember it. But, not something I do today. The snow in Great Falls a few weeks ago was real light powder so no real trouble to shovel. But, my god was it cold.

dk

What a move, from -30 Montana to the equatorial jungle!

  SunnyFl said:

  Mark_NoVA said:

Thanks, Meg!

Fairfax City--not far away at all! Nice to hear.

How far are you from Vienna, Mark? That's the area where I grew up, and I never saw any palms growing there, not even needles or trachies so it's nice to see the palmies you've planted out. 18 inches of snow is amazing in December - your winter this year could well rival the dreadful winter of 77-78 (which necessitated our hasty return to FL).

That would be 0 miles--that's where I am! Those few winters around 77-78 were notable for killing off almost all the DC region Camellias, which motivated the program at the National Arboretum under Dr. Ackerman for developing cold-hardy camellias.

The oldest palm in the region I'm aware of is a big old needle palm at the National Arboretum on Asian Hill, but I don't think it goes back that far.

  happ said:

Mark

These photos would make great Christmas cards!

They would, wouldn't they? Thanks!

[George Sparkman]

I totally agree !

The Trachycarpus wagnerianus (Pic1/Post1) would really be a fantastic Holiday Greetings card.

Happy growing,

George Sparkman

Cycads-n-Palms.com

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

Ill have to see if I can get some of my photos posted. I live in Old Town Alexandria, pretty close to the Potomac river, and we do have some fantastic microclimates here! We got about 24" here where I am. The airport (National airport) where they "officially" measure the precip / temps for DC did set a record, but they only measured 16.4". It always blows my mind how they end up always measuring so much less than surrounding areas, even areas that are as close to the airport as I am. Im about 1 mile from National, and we got 8 more inches here, and everywhere else in my neighborhood.

Great pics! The only time I remotely "like" winter, is if/ when it snows, and this one was a doozie for sure! This was a once every 10-15 year storm for sure. At least it never got bitter cold with this one. Good stuff!

[epicure3]

  DCA_Palm_Fan said:

Ill have to see if I can get some of my photos posted. I live in Old Town Alexandria, pretty close to the Potomac river, and we do have some fantastic microclimates here! We got about 24" here where I am. The airport (National airport) where they "officially" measure the precip / temps for DC did set a record, but they only measured 16.4". It always blows my mind how they end up always measuring so much less than surrounding areas, even areas that are as close to the airport as I am. Im about 1 mile from National, and we got 8 more inches here, and everywhere else in my neighborhood.

Great pics! The only time I remotely "like" winter, is if/ when it snows, and this one was a doozie for sure! This was a once every 10-15 year storm for sure. At least it never got bitter cold with this one. Good stuff!

According to the Washington Post, the meaurements taken at DCA are 100% always faulty and wrong.

[epicure3]

Sort of OT, but I was wondering how far noth into Virginia one can find a mature sized Sabal Palmetto. Anyone know?

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

  epicure3 said:

  DCA_Palm_Fan said:

Ill have to see if I can get some of my photos posted. I live in Old Town Alexandria, pretty close to the Potomac river, and we do have some fantastic microclimates here! We got about 24" here where I am. The airport (National airport) where they "officially" measure the precip / temps for DC did set a record, but they only measured 16.4". It always blows my mind how they end up always measuring so much less than surrounding areas, even areas that are as close to the airport as I am. Im about 1 mile from National, and we got 8 more inches here, and everywhere else in my neighborhood.

Great pics! The only time I remotely "like" winter, is if/ when it snows, and this one was a doozie for sure! This was a once every 10-15 year storm for sure. At least it never got bitter cold with this one. Good stuff!

According to the Washington Post, the meaurements taken at DCA are 100% always faulty and wrong.

I would definitely agree with that assessment by the Washington Post.

  epicure3 said:

Sort of OT, but I was wondering how far noth into Virginia one can find a mature sized Sabal Palmetto. Anyone know?

Far as I know of, that would be in the Va Beach area. There are MANY mature, and some very LARGE Sabal Palmettos in the Va Beach area, some of which have been growing there for 20 years. I personally do not know of any "permanent" ones any farther north than that, although I do remember a post on list serve I am on about a few 7 foot tall Sabals planted in Stafford VA. (155 Garrisonville Road, Stafford, VA 22554 is the address of the resturaunt) There were also two mature, hurricane cut Sabal Palmettos installed at the Scottish Rite temple in NW DC this past summer. It will be interesting to see if they do in fact make it. I do have my doubts about that though, while they are in the city and definitely well inside the urban heat island, they are not downtown. The only place in VA that I know of these are hardy with any sort of long term, is Va Beach.

Here is a pic of the palms at the Scottish Rite Temple in NW DC.

[Mark_NoVA]

  DCA_Palm_Fan said:

Ill have to see if I can get some of my photos posted. I live in Old Town Alexandria, pretty close to the Potomac river, and we do have some fantastic microclimates here! We got about 24" here where I am. The airport (National airport) where they "officially" measure the precip / temps for DC did set a record, but they only measured 16.4". It always blows my mind how they end up always measuring so much less than surrounding areas, even areas that are as close to the airport as I am. Im about 1 mile from National, and we got 8 more inches here, and everywhere else in my neighborhood.

Great pics! The only time I remotely "like" winter, is if/ when it snows, and this one was a doozie for sure! This was a once every 10-15 year storm for sure. At least it never got bitter cold with this one. Good stuff!

Nice to see you posting here! You do have some nice microclimates there!

Quite bizarre you got more snow than me (as that area near National usually gets less).

  epicure3 said:

According to the Washington Post, the meaurements taken at DCA are 100% always faulty and wrong.

Not 'faulty and wrong' as far as I know, but usually misrepresentative of the region. National Airport sits on a very wide part of the tidal Potomac River, so the temperatures are typically milder than most of the region. And snowfall typically less. This is a problem in some other cities as well--the 'official' statistics come from an airport in a warm or cold microclimate. It's rather annoying when the local weather forecasters cite records based solely on the data from National Airport. Nevertheless, this snowfall smashed the previous record for largest December snowfall, so this is a pretty safe one to cite.

  epicure3 said:

Sort of OT, but I was wondering how far noth into Virginia one can find a mature sized Sabal Palmetto. Anyone know?

You'll see large hurricane-cut Sabal palmettos brought up and planted in the state, but I don't know how many of those are long-term survivors. Like the previous post says, if there are any, they would be around the VA Beach area, and probably in a nice microclimate as well.

[SunnyFl]

  Mark_NoVA said:

  SunnyFl said:

How far are you from Vienna, Mark? That's the area where I grew up

That would be 0 miles--that's where I am! Those few winters around 77-78 were notable for killing off almost all the DC region Camellias, which motivated the program at the National Arboretum under Dr. Ackerman for developing cold-hardy camellias.

The oldest palm in the region I'm aware of is a big old needle palm at the National Arboretum on Asian Hill, but I don't think it goes back that far.

Really - Vienna?? Wow. Last time I went back for a visit, 1980 or 81, to see family, I couldn't believe how much it had changed. I bet I wouldn't recognize it now.

I didn't know that about the camellias - most of them died? And I'd never heard of "cold-hardy" camellias - I thought they all were. as you see, I'm clueless about northern plants.

Btw, this afternoon I heard something on the news about DC National flooding. Some people were wading around, but I couldn't find out any details. Why was it flooded - was it just at the airport, like a malfunction or something, or was the whole area affected?