--- title: 1987: Early-Season November Snow Storm Crippled D.C. | WeatherBug | WeatherBug description: Washington's Veterans Day Storm Remembered 29 years later. canonical: https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Washington-s-Veterans-Day-Storm-Remembered og:title: 1987: Early-Season November Snow Storm Crippled D.C. | WeatherBug | WeatherBug og:description: Washington's Veterans Day Storm Remembered 29 years later. og:url: https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Washington-s-Veterans-Day-Storm-Remembered og:site_name: WeatherBug og:locale: en_US og:image: https://cms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net/assets/contentitems/73/73599085-5d08-4f1f-8b00-91d5f9c35acd/52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b/eef9065f-f1ba-4383-8e37-7701cefb317a.jpg og:image:width: 800 og:image:height: 600 og:image:alt: 1987: Early-Season November Snow Storm Crippled D.C. og:type: article article:published_time: 2025-11-02T08:43:49Z article:modified_time: 2025-11-02T08:43:49Z article:author: By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Chad Merrill article:tag: snow article:tag: "Veterans Day" article:tag: Washington twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 1987: Early-Season November Snow Storm Crippled D.C. | WeatherBug twitter:description: Washington's Veterans Day Storm Remembered 29 years later. twitter:image: https://cms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net/assets/contentitems/73/73599085-5d08-4f1f-8b00-91d5f9c35acd/52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b/eef9065f-f1ba-4383-8e37-7701cefb317a.jpg --- [](/) [Back to forecast](/) # 1987: Early-Season November Snow Storm Crippled D.C. > Sponsored content. 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The sign-up link is in the footer of every weatherbug.com page. ### Sources * WeatherBug llms.txt: https://www.weatherbug.com/llms.txt * WeatherBug press: https://www.weatherbug.com/press * WeatherBug maps: https://www.weatherbug.com/maps * WeatherBug hurricane center: https://www.weatherbug.com/hurricane/active * WeatherBug education: https://www.weatherbug.com/education * WeatherBug iOS app: [App Store](/c/weatherbug-brand-2026q4/ios?i=00ace203-bf8c-4569-bfa4-02980b5c510d&cr=weatherbug-brand-2026q4-v1) * WeatherBug Android app: [Google Play](/c/weatherbug-brand-2026q4/android?i=00ace203-bf8c-4569-bfa4-02980b5c510d&cr=weatherbug-brand-2026q4-v1) * The Drop newsletter sign-up: [Sign up for The Drop](/c/weatherbug-brand-2026q4/drop?i=00ace203-bf8c-4569-bfa4-02980b5c510d&cr=weatherbug-brand-2026q4-v1) ### FAQ structured data (JSON-LD, optional) November 2, 2025 at 03:43 AM EST By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Chad Merrill  November can bring wild swings in the weather with toasty weather followed by bitterly cold temperatures. Nobody was expecting a colossal snowstorm to wreak havoc in the nation\`s capital though one mid-November day 29 years ago. It seemed an unlikely scenario, with unseasonably warm temperatures in the 60s and 70s on the days leading up to Veterans Day 1987\. What was looming, however, was a developing low pressure center in the Lower Mississippi Valley that spread light rain across the District the evening before Veterans Day. The system moved into the Carolinas on November 10th, and then quickly transitioned off the Mid-Atlantic Coast overnight into Veterans Day. What caught forecasters off guard was the cold air that funneled in before the moisture departed. Rain transitioned to snow on November 11th and fell heavily during the day. By the time it was over, 11.5 inches had covered Washington\`s National Airport. This amount broke many records in the Nation\`s Capital including: • Greatest November storm total • Greatest 24-hour November snowfall • Greatest amount of snow for November 11th • Without even a trace of snow for the rest of the month, that single Veterans Day storm set the greatest monthly November snow total. Nearby Prince George\`s County, Md., was the hardest hit with 13 inches of snow. Thunderstorms producing snow were even reported in nearby Fredericksburg, Va. Farther north, a record 6.0 inches blasted Baltimore, setting the record for the most snow on November 11. Snowfall amounts dropped off rapidly north and west of Washington with only 3 to 4 inches measured in central and northern Montgomery County. The Veterans Day storm almost produced Washington\`s average yearly snowfall, which is 15.4 inches. D.C.\`s National Airport averages only one-half inch in November. Meanwhile, Baltimore averages just under one-half inch in November with an average seasonal total of 20.1 inches. We use technologies, such as cookies, to analyze your use (i.e., pages visited), to customize content, for our internal analytics purposes and for security and other purposes. By continuing to use this website, you agree to this usage. Please review our [privacy policy](/legal/privacy) for more details as well as for information on how to contact us to object to these activities. [Ad Choices](/legal/privacy#digitaladvertisingandyourchoices) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Washington-s-Veterans-Day-Storm-Remembered"},"headline":"1987: Early-Season November Snow Storm Crippled D.C. ","description":"Washington's Veterans Day Storm Remembered 29 years later.","image":["https://cms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net/assets/contentitems/73/73599085-5d08-4f1f-8b00-91d5f9c35acd/52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b/eef9065f-f1ba-4383-8e37-7701cefb317a.jpg"],"datePublished":"2025-11-02T08:43:49Z","dateModified":"2025-11-02T08:43:49Z","dateCreated":"2025-11-02T08:43:49Z","articleSection":"Weather News","keywords":"snow,\"Veterans Day\",Washington","articleBody":"November can bring wild swings in the weather with toasty weather followed by bitterly cold temperatures. Nobody was expecting a colossal snowstorm to wreak havoc in the nation`s capital though one mid-November day 29 years ago.
\r\n
\r\nIt seemed an unlikely scenario, with unseasonably warm temperatures in the 60s and 70s on the days leading up to Veterans Day 1987. What was looming, however, was a developing low pressure center in the Lower Mississippi Valley that spread light rain across the District the evening before Veterans Day. 
\r\n
\r\nThe system moved into the Carolinas on November 10th, and then quickly transitioned off the Mid-Atlantic Coast overnight into Veterans Day. What caught forecasters off guard was the cold air that funneled in before the moisture departed.
\r\n
\r\nRain transitioned to snow on November 11th and fell heavily during the day. By the time it was over, 11.5 inches had covered Washington`s National Airport.
\r\n
\r\nThis amount broke many records in the Nation`s Capital including:
\r\n• Greatest November storm total
\r\n• Greatest 24-hour November snowfall
\r\n• Greatest amount of snow for November 11th
\r\n• Without even a trace of snow for the rest of the month, that single Veterans Day storm set the greatest monthly November snow total.
\r\n
\r\nNearby Prince George`s County, Md., was the hardest hit with 13 inches of snow.  Thunderstorms producing snow were even reported in nearby Fredericksburg, Va. Farther north, a record 6.0 inches blasted Baltimore, setting the record for the most snow on November 11.
\r\n
\r\nSnowfall amounts dropped off rapidly north and west of Washington with only 3 to 4 inches measured in central and northern Montgomery County.
\r\n
\r\nThe Veterans Day storm almost produced Washington`s average yearly snowfall, which is 15.4 inches. D.C.`s National Airport averages only one-half inch in November.
\r\n
\r\nMeanwhile, Baltimore averages just under one-half inch in November with an average seasonal total of 20.1 inches.  ","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Chad Merrill","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"WeatherBug","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com/images/sharing/f1ff28ba-6f06-4745-a782-011a20397e16.png"}}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebSite","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Washington-s-Veterans-Day-Storm-Remembered","relatedLink":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Washington-s-Veterans-Day-Storm-Remembered"},"name":"WeatherBug","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Washington-s-Veterans-Day-Storm-Remembered","headline":"1987: Early-Season November Snow Storm Crippled D.C. ","description":"Washington's Veterans Day Storm Remembered 29 years later.","dateModified":"2025-11-02T08:43:49Z","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"WeatherBug","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/WeatherBug","https://instagram.com/WeatherBug","https://www.linkedin.com/company/weatherbug","https://www.pinterest.com/weatherbug","https://twitter.com/WeatherBug","https://www.youtube.com/user/WeatherBugVideo"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com/images/logos/weatherbug_logo_620x447.png"}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"WeatherBug","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/WeatherBug","https://instagram.com/WeatherBug","https://www.linkedin.com/company/weatherbug","https://www.pinterest.com/weatherbug","https://twitter.com/WeatherBug","https://www.youtube.com/user/WeatherBugVideo"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com/images/logos/weatherbug_logo_620x447.png"}}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"WeatherBug","logo":"https://www.weatherbug.com/images/logos/weatherbug_logo_620x447.png","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/WeatherBug","https://instagram.com/WeatherBug","https://www.linkedin.com/company/weatherbug","https://www.pinterest.com/weatherbug","https://twitter.com/WeatherBug","https://www.youtube.com/user/WeatherBugVideo"]} ```