Official White House photo by Pete Souza, Feb.3, 2010, before the big storm
In Howard county, between DC and Baltimore snow depths averaged over 30 inches.
The old snowfall record for Dulles airport was smashed.
THE 32.4 INCH TWO-DAY STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL RECORDED TODAY AT DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT EXCEEDS THE PREVIOUS TWO-DAY STORM RECORD OF
23.2 INCHES ON 7-8 JANUARY 1996.
Around the Baltimore Washington area snowfall amounts placed the storm in the top 5 in a record going back over 100 years. With this huge storm following the big storm in December 2009 the weather record for Baltimore is looking very strange. 5 of the top 11 storms in 120 years has occurred since January 2000. The record is weighted in DC also with more heavy storms in recent decades.
Is this a sign of global cooling?
No.
The east coast isn't getting colder, nor is it getting more storms. The biggest storms are producing more snow.
Why? Maybe it's random clustering of extreme events, but perhaps it's because there is more available moisture from the Gulf Stream.
The latest storm intensified over the very warm Gulf Stream water off of Cape Hatteras. Warmer than normal Gulf Stream water in a cooler than normal El Nino winter on the east coast is a recipe for heavy snow.