Report: Winter Wallop of Ought Nine #1

As the mid-Atlantic and most especially the piedmont region of Virginia and Maryland spent the day preparing and speculating about this winter storm event, I couldn't help but hold a childlike sense of anticipation that with all of the conditions in place, this year might bring a white Christmas to Takoma Park. I've lived here nigh on 16 Christmases now, and not a single one stands out as particularly white. Oh, there were no doubt a couple that came with a skiff of snow, but nothing like the ones I remember from childhood spent in the mountainous panhandle-berg of Maryland called Flintstone. As a child, every Christmas was spent at the home of my paternal grandparents.

One Christmas morning in particular stands out. We'd gone to bed with about 2 inches on the ground and a storm that was just starting to kick into high gear. On Christmas morning we awoke to discover that over night a huge comforter of sparkling crystalline fleece had been draped across the landscape. Our station wagon was just another lump in a world buried beneath 3+ feet of snow! It was awesome.

And while I don't expect this storm to produce like that one, it's gotten off to a good start. First flakes began their gentle decent around 8:30/9:00. By 11:00 PM there was a solid .5-inch dusting and then things picked up. At 2:30 AM I dipped my ruler into 3.5 inches on the deck railing outside the back door of the kitchen (the same perspective as the photo). At it's present rate, I would expect a 5 inch total by daybreak, and then the forecast calls for 8-12 more inches during the day, followed by 2-4 inches more through Saturday evening/night, and then lingering flurries on Sunday morning.

Reporting from ground zero of the “Winter Wallop of Ought Nine” --- "O, the weather outside is frightful, but in here, it's so delightful.....let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"