Records Falling With Snow in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON (Feb. 10) -- It's snowing like it's 1899.

The whiteout that has crippled Washington for the second time in a week broke a record that had stood since the winter of 1898-99. By early afternoon, 54.9 inches had fallen on the capital, burying a record for the snowiest winter since record-keeping began in 1888, a high of 54.4 inches set before the turn of the last century.

To the north, where the brunt of Wednesday's blizzard was felt, Baltimore also broke its record for the snowiest winter ever. It registered 65.6 inches just before noon, busting the previous record, from 1995-96, of 62.5 inches.

Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP

This season's snowfall in Washington, D.C., toppled a record that had stood since the winter of 1898-99.

Here in Washington, where government ground to a halt this week, between 10 and 20 inches was expected by tonight. That one-day accumulation alone is more than the city's seasonal average of 15.2 inches, according to data collected by the National Weather Service.

Bands of snow squalls, with winds gusting up to 50 mph, caked the capital in a fresh layer of white. Roofs groaned beneath the accumulating weight as ice dams caused gutters to crash. Blowing snow reduced visibility to a quarter-mile or less.

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"I'm not going to say it's a perfect storm," Kathy Vreeland, a climatologist at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University, told AOL News. Still, the combination of low pressure systems and cold air produced back-to-back storms that are unusual for the mid-Atlantic. "This is a real news maker and a real troublemaker, because it doesn't leave time to recover," she said.

For a place once known as a sleepy Southern town that in recent years enjoyed weather to match -- the last few winters had annual snowfall measured in the single digits -- Washington has had its share of snowpocalypses:

For sheer devastation, nothing has matched the legendary Knickerbocker snowstorm of 1922. That January blizzard dumped up to 33 inches in Rock Creek Park but is remembered by its namesake, the Knickerbocker Theater, where 98 moviegoers were killed and more than 100 others injured when the roof collapsed under tons of snow.

Though puny by historic standards -- a mere 8 inches -- the unexpected snowstorm on the eve of John F. Kennedy's presidential inauguration in January 1961 caused massive traffic jams and forced planners to scramble to clear the inaugural parade route.

The Blizzard of 1996 dumped 2 feet of snow on Washington and paralyzed the region. But the worst came later when unseasonably warm temperatures for mid-January quickly melted the snow and caused the worst winter flooding in decades.

The Presidents Day Storm of 2003 was the last major snow to hit Washington before this winter. Part of a larger nor'easter that paralyzed the entire East Coast, it closed local airports and brought the city to a standstill.

Now, as Washingtonians endure their worst Snowmageddon ever, there isn't much to do but wait until it officially enters the history books.

"I hope everybody pays attention," Vreeland said. "If they have power, hunker down and watch a movie. If they don't have power, play Monopoly."