Snow Anniversary, Near Record Heat

If someone tells you that it does not snow much anymore- please correct them. As we stand today for the season in snowfall:

• 4.8" of Snow
• Normal: 3.2"
• 1.6" above normal

Today marks 12 years since the famous storm of 1996. A storm that justified all of the shopping beforehand. It was tagged the "Blizzard of '96", and lasted a few days. Here you can see the daily snowfall records still on the books. Today's record of 15.8" is the second highest 1 day total for Baltimore in January. The snow lasted 3 days, with a total of 26.6"- with over 3 feet in places like Carroll County. Snow drifts were reported over 6 feet in spots. Ironically, the following week, temperatures hit the mid 60s
This brings up the important point of our personal memory with snowy winters. I can't make the point any better than an email I got last week: This snow in 1996 was our #2 storm on record, it melted a week later. Temperatures hit the low 60s on January 18th. Other winters have had less snow that stayed on the ground for a month or more. Sometimes snowfall itself does not stay in our memories, but the duration of snow pack.

As for the current heat... check the Headlines graphic on the right column. I am forecasting 64F, which is still warm, but not the record. Our heat records date back to the period of warming in the early part of the century. Check out these records for the next few days:

• 7th: 74F in 1907
• 8th 69F in 1930
• 9th 75F in 1937