Does snow stay longer than a few days in NOVA? (Richmond: neighborhoods, buying)

[claremarie]

There are palm trees in Dublin, Ireland. All it takes is a reasonably temperate climate where it doesn't freeze.

[car54]

I don't know if the whole "global warming" thing is legit or not...nor do I want to open that politically charged can of worms.....BUT it sure seems like it used to snow a lot more around here.

I will never forget the Blizzard of '66 ('58 and '79 were beauts too)! It was a true blizzard with gale force winds and 2+ feet of snow. Drifts made houses disappear! Schools were closed for a week and a half and the snow took a month to completely melt.

About today's weather related school closings....I can't think of a more thankless job than having to that make that call! If they open schools and a kid gets hurt....bring on the lawyers. If they close and nothing much happens....Oh, the outcry! They can't win.

And they are a bit gunshy here in Fairfax County due to an incident that occurred about 5 years ago. It was raining one morning and the temperature was hovering at just above freezing. They decided to open schools at the normal time. Suddenly the temp dropped below freezing....and we wrecked 40 buses in about 30 minutes! Nobody will forget that morning for a good long while!

[Fairfax Mom]

When it snows around here peole are so amazed they go around hooting and hollering - you would think a miracle occured.

Now - just funnin wit ya

[NOVAmtneer82]

The DC area gets a few decent accumulating snows every winter but it definitely doesn't stick around for long. I don't really dread the actual snow as much as the events that occur when it does snow, namely on the roadways. Snow isn't a foreign concept here, yet everytime the flakes start falling there are fifty billion wrecks, which in turn results in traffic grinding to a virtual halt EVERYWHERE.

[scimitar12]

Originally Posted by blueva

Washington is a humid Sub Tropical climate, and is WARMER than Seattle. In general, some winters there is no snow in DC or VA for that matter. We have had deep snows but the snow is not on the ground for any extended period of time. Usually if theres a light dusting of snow even, everything shuts down.

That is exactly how it is in Kansas City, though I am sure no one would confuse the area as associated as Sub Tropical. Winters there are very mild; you can play golf year-round with the exception of a week or two when it can get into single digits at night. Otherwise, a typical winter day has lows in the 20s and highs in the 40s and 50s. When it snows even a half inch, many businesses shut down as do shcools.

[NOVA.123]

Originally Posted by car54

I don't know if the whole "global warming" thing is legit or not...nor do I want to open that politically charged can of worms.....BUT it sure seems like it used to snow a lot more around here.

I will never forget the Blizzard of '66 ('58 and '79 were beauts too)! It was a true blizzard with gale force winds and 2+ feet of snow. Drifts made houses disappear! Schools were closed for a week and a half and the snow took a month to completely melt.

I agree with you completely. While we may not have gotten huge amounts of snow at one time, we did get snow and quite often. My childhood memory is of sleigh riding and ice skating all throughout the winters. We almost always had snow on Christmas too.

I remember 66 and the photos in my parents old albums show only the tip of the roof showing of the house! I don't think any old timer will forget the snow/ice storm of Jan. 13, 1982 and the Air Florida Crash. I remember a big storm in January 1986 and then in 1996 when we had back to back snow storms that left the area with 3 feet+ of snow. In 2006 my husband was out of the country and we got 16 inches at our house (I remember well since I was shoveling by myself but then some nice neighbors came to the rescue)!

Agree also that when people hear SNOW in this area, they totally freak out and traffic is just plain murder.

[stockdale.35]

we maybe get a dusting of snow in mid december(its gone by 11am). January we might get a 3 inch, another 3-4 and maybe a 5 incher. Feb maybe a 4 incher and maybe a ice covering. March very unlikely, but maybe snow fall for no accumulation.

I have lived here 22 years, and never had a snowless winter that i can remember.

Oh expect 3-4 school days off for snow.

[blueva]

In the immediate DC area you get more snow than the rest of VA (outside the mountains)- but the line changes around Fredericksburg. In Richmond its almost like a different climate.

[popalnet]

I guess because of global warming and the urban island heating effect, DC has been bumped up one zone by USDA to USDA zone 8: Hardiness zone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The USDA zone map basically is a guide for the types of plants that can grow in an area. Seattle and DC are both in the same zone - USDA zone 8. This basically means that the coldest winter temps range from 20 - 10 degrees F.

I've posted this information before on another thread, and I had a few people jump all over me about how DC winter is a lot harsher than Seattle. For the most part, Seattle is a little milder for low temps during the winter compared to DC, but it's pretty depressing gray most of the winter in Seattle.

As far as palm trees are concerned, I've actually seen palm trees in a few neighborhoods in DC and Nova. The palm that people in DC have been experimenting with and are having good success is the Chinese Windmill Palm, also know as trachycarpus fortune. Like this in SE DC: http://img2.putfile.com/main/12/33720571668.jpg

I also have a buddy in Nova who's had Windmill Palms in his back yard for the last 9 years. It's about 10 feet now. I've even seen a 20 footer in Sterling, in Nova. But of course palms isn't something that you will likely see. Unless you like palms, you could plant windmill palms with no winter protection in DC and be successful.

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by NOVA.123

I agree with you completely. While we may not have gotten huge amounts of snow at one time, we did get snow and quite often. My childhood memory is of sleigh riding and ice skating all throughout the winters. We almost always had snow on Christmas too.

I remember 66 and the photos in my parents old albums show only the tip of the roof showing of the house! I don't think any old timer will forget the snow/ice storm of Jan. 13, 1982 and the Air Florida Crash. I remember a big storm in January 1986 and then in 1996 when we had back to back snow storms that left the area with 3 feet+ of snow. In 2006 my husband was out of the country and we got 16 inches at our house (I remember well since I was shoveling by myself but then some nice neighbors came to the rescue)!

Agree also that when people hear SNOW in this area, they totally freak out and traffic is just plain murder.

1996 was great! Loved that one! I believe it came right after the New Year, didn't it?