John Matthews
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Even as the D.C. suburbs deal with their first frost of the season, the District is looking ahead to the first snow of winter, and appealing to federal weather watchers to make a significant change – namely to bring D.C.’s official weather station back to the Nation’s Capital.

The National Weather Service typically conducts its weather measurements in urban areas at airports, because they provide enough wide-open space to convey accurate representative measurements. But Washington’s official airport offers one distinctive challenge. It’s not actually IN Washington.

“The National Weather Service relies on a measuring point at National Airport, which is in Virginia, not in the District,” said D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen at a council hearing Tuesday. He told representatives of the National Weather Service, “I’m sure you can understand why we take a bit of unmbrage at that.”

Reagan National Airport, across the Potomac River in Arlington, suffers more than just a geographical disadvantage. It’s placement alongside a body of water makes for meteorological differences as well, and often skews measurements compared to the rest of the region.

During last January’s blizzard, for example, both Dulles and BWI-Marshall airports recorded more than 29 inches of snow, while the snow at Reagan National came in at 17.8 inches. Part of the reason for that was the blizzard itself – the device used to measure snow at Reagan became buried in the middle of the storm, and meteorologists resorted to using a ruler, which is apparently a less exact science.

The Weather Service doesn’t oppose tha idea of moving D.C.’s measurement spot, but it doesn’t have any magic answers, either.

“The biggest difficulty is having a 24/7 facility that is there to constantly measure snow 365 days a year,” said NWS Meteorologist Chris Strong.

But no matter what the reason is for the disparity, DC lawmakers want truth and honesty in weather recording. They want a seat at the table. So where should the official Washington temperature and precipitation totals be recorded?

“I think the Arboretum would be a great place to measure snow. The White House would be a great place. The Zoo is a possibility,” said Matt Ross with the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang. “I think there’s a number of options, even someplace on the Mall would be better than down at DCA near a tarmac,” he added.

It should be noted that wanting something doesn’t make it so. While the National Weather Service has promised to consider alternatives in the past, there is currently no solid plan in place to designate a new official weather spot for Washington.

So for now, Arlington remains the nation’s meteorological capital.

Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Wikipedia, Editingman15)