December 5th is FITF Day

This has been a day all snowhounds unite to honor and celebrate this unique calendar holiday. December 5th is the date almost every year last decade marked the first snow of each winter season in central Maryland.   I credit the phrase to a conversation I had with my son in 2009. But it all began with a record breaking snow storm in 2002, when I did my infamous snow angel on Live TV,  just one year after setting a record high temperature on the same date.

Here is a look at the snow history and how it’s also connected to when “Faith in the Flakes” was born.

 

 

Winter in the Mid Atlantic can either behave like the south and stay mild, or like the northeast and snowy. Often we get caught in between and hang on every word of potential snow. Each year it is cliche to expect snow around Presidents Week. That’s when we get our biggest storms. But starting the season with the first snow in December is filled with anticipation by many and for many years it kept coming on the same date.

Baltimore has a few other special weather dates, but this one in particular has gotten a lot of attention in recent years. December 5th appeared to have been the average arrival of snow, at least in the prior decade.

 

 

How Faith in the Flakes Began

The start of the phrase Faith in the Flakes was back in 2009, with oldest son when he was just a three years old then. After missing an early season (November) snowstorm I got him excited for, I had to explain to Little B why his dad (and a weatherman) was wrong.

Brendan understood quickly, and believed it would eventually snow. He know we had plenty of winter ahead of us.

That word ‘Faith’ was his, knowing it was believing in something you can’t see. The phrase Faith in the Flake came from our conversation.  We walked away happy and didn’t have to wait long.

It was this date is when #FITF got validation.

It was on December 5, 2009 when we got our snow.  Baltimore’s BWI records only show 1 inch, but the inland suburbs got up to 5 inches. That’s what we got to play in at our house.

Then two weeks later  on December 19, 2009, we had the largest snowstorm in Baltimore December history and began our snowiest winter on record with a total of 77 inches!

The photos below:

This was my son and I celebrating in 20 inches of snow after the first of 3 blizzards that winter. This was PROOF that having Faith in the Flakes will eventually come true. I am so happy as a dad to carry that legacy with thousands of people today.

 

 

I redeemed my weather skills as a meteorologist and dad in his eyes. We kept saying it back and forth to each other, and eventually I started saying it on TV and on social media.  I had no idea it would catch on the way it did.

It is also why snow lovers can celebrate our love of winter on this date every year.

Brendan and I  kept saying it back and forth to each other for years.  Now he’s a teenager a little too cool for it.

 

 

Average Snow in Baltimore By Month

In Baltimore, early surges of cold air and the hype over the holidays often gets many excited, but we usually have to wait until January and February for our real snow.

Average December = 3.1″ Snow

Snowiest December = 20.4″ in 1966

Largest Storm: 17″ December 19, 2009 *It was originally higher and the month that year would have had the record, but NWS lowered the total and other totals for other storms later that winter.  

 

December 5th- Date With Destiny For Almost a Decade

To add some context:

• December 5th 2001 was a day the record high temperature was set in at BWI at 75°F.
• December 5th 2002 the record snowfall of 7.4″ was measured at the BWI.  ONE YEAR LATER!

 

This began a stretch of eight out of the next nine years with the first snow of the season on this date. It was like clockwork and made some people hit a streak of wins in their office pools.

 

For nearly a decade, 70% of the years had some form of snow on this particular date. The 2008 leap year was off by one day. Baltimore had over 3-inches fall on December 5th at BWI on four occasions, or 40% of the time. There was another year with only 1 inch recorded, but a few miles north of the airport 5 inches were recorded in Woodlawn. In all, 50% of the time we have at least 1 inch of snow. That is something special with no particular rhyme or reason.

2002

Video

That record snow on December 5, 2002 that started the trend was my last full snow storm I reported for WBAL-TV before moving to the other station across town. I was on Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie all morning so Chief Meteorologist Tom Tasselmeyer stayed at the station all night to cover the storm. Perhaps we were both a little giddy from the fatigue, but he got me to do a snow angel on Live TV. It’s on my career highlight reel.

In this clip…

• Scroll past 35 seconds for the actual Live Shot.
• At 4:00 see my snow angel. Tom Tasslemery gave me a 10.

Maybe I didn’t hit my head, but the date was stuck in my head since then.

 

2003

My first full winter at WMAR, there was almost a full repeat of that storm one year ago to the day. It was a Friday, and it turned into a 3 day weekend for most schools with 6.8 inches of snow. I also remember getting an email from my friend Melodie Taylor saying she called it! She won the pool at her school for picking the first snow day. That was two in a row for her and all of us. It had to be a coincidence. But could it happen again?

2005

Well, December 5th in 2004 was a miss, but it was also on a weekend. In 2005 however, the date proved itself again with 3.3″. Thanks to the prior leap year, this was on a Monday. That benefitted more kids and teachers, and displayed the first storm for Baltimore three out of four years. That is a statistical outlier. Consider the months of winter between December and March. These odds were pretty slim for one day to always have snow, but continued on.

2006

In 2006, we didn’t get a storm, but flurries and snow showers measured a trace, and that kept the trend alive. But wouldn’t you know it, 2007 brought the first storm to Baltimore AGAIN! This time it was 4.7″ at BWI. Nearby Glen Burnie had 6 inches, while parts of Carroll County estimated over 8 inches by Doppler radar.

2008

As you look at the graphic here, 2008 has an asterisk* It was just a buck in the trend, as the snow fell after midnight and left an official 0.6″ for Baltimore on December 6th. One viewer did point out that it was a leap year, so that may have pushed the calendar off the mark.

2009

The wonderful record shattering winter began with the first storm (again) on December 5th. I remember speaking to a large group from the NSA in Fort Meade that October about weather. I was asked to make a prediction for the first snow, and in front of roughly 100 people I had to play up December 5th. It was for no reason other than history, but history likes to repeat itself. By trusting it blindly, I got to look like a rock star.

Climate records for December 5th 2009 show only 1 inch of snow for BWI after 0.85″ liquid equivalent. Does it matter? It still registered snow, and nearby Pimilco in north Baltimore City observed 2.5″, while Woodlawn on the west side of the beltway had 5″ of powder.

2010

This is the most questionable date on the list. Technically only flurries fell around Baltimore, but it was the first ‘cold’ day of the season with temperatures stuck in the 30s. The morning did start off looking like winter with a coating of snow in the Hereford Zone of Baltimore County.

 

It has been nine years since this our December 5th streak, but we can still celebrate it an dream. We are due to have snow return.

 

 

Maryland Winters: Snowfall Maps and Baltimore Snow History 

 

 

 

Most items are unisex, but the women in my life make the new ladies’ hoodies look so good.

 

 

New Caps and Hats 

 

 

SNOW DAYS ARE STILL A THING

(Outside of Howard County, MD in COVID Distance Learning

 

 

 

My Final Winter Outlook: Snow Forecast