"Huge Snowfall Shuts Down D.C. Area"

Floral St. in Washington, Feb. 19, 1979. Click image to enlarge. (Photo © Washington Post, via WeatherBook.com.)

The greatest snowstorm in more than half [a] century left the Washington area smothered under at most two feet of snow yesterday -- a magnificent white menace that virtually imprisoned the city and sent road crews battling to reopen streets for this morning's commuters. [Washington Post, page A1, Feb. 20, 1979]

Today is the anniversary of the second-largest Washington snowstorm of the 20th Century. Now known as Presidents' Day I, following the Presidents' Day II storm of 2003, the storm was originally known as the Washington's Birthday storm.

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