Though it ground most activity in the D.C. region to a halt yesterday (Sunday), Winter Storm Fern ultimately came up short of last year’s biggest winter event in terms of total snowfall.
The storm dumped between 5.5 inches and 8.5 inches of snow and sleet on different parts of Fairfax County, according to unofficial measurements taken by National Weather Service staff and trained spotters.
Here are some select preliminary totals reported by the NWS from across the county:
- Rose Hill: 8.5 inches, recorded at 6 p.m. yesterday
- Vienna: 8.5 inches, recorded at 7 a.m. today (Monday)
- Town of Herndon: 8.2 inches, recorded at 7 p.m. yesterday
- Fair Lakes Shopping Center (labeled southeast Chantilly by the NWS): 8 inches, recorded at 5:25 p.m. yesterday
- West Springfield: 7.5 inches, recorded at 4:40 p.m. yesterday
- Cub Run Rec Center (labeled Woolsey by the NWS): 7.3 inches, recorded at 7:38 p.m. yesterday
- Chantilly: 6.6 inches, recorded at 6 p.m. yesterday
- Centreville: 6.5 inches, recorded at 8:55 p.m. yesterday
- McLean: 6 inches, measured at 3 p.m. yesterday
- Fairfax Station: 5.5 inches, recorded at 8:20 p.m. yesterday
Just across the county line in Loudoun, Dulles International Airport officially recorded 7.8 inches of snow at midnight today.
In comparison, snowfall totals from the storm that hit Fairfax County on Jan. 5-6, 2025 ranged from 5.9 inches in Herndon to 10 inches in Newington. Amounts from a storm on Feb. 11, 2025 are closer to the Winter Storm Fern observations.
According to the Capital Weather Gang, however, the heavy sleet that mixed in with the snow made Winter Storm Fern unusually disruptive. Up to 4 inches of icy pellets were measured — the most in the D.C. region since at least February 1994.
“The water packed inside was comparable to the contents of a 20-inch blizzard,” the Capital Weather Gang said, noting that D.C. has now recorded “above-normal snow in January” three years in a row.
With below-freezing temperatures expected to continue through this week, it could be a while before all of that consolidated precipitation melts and roads fully clear.
⚠️ Icy conditions expected for the next several days
Roads, sidewalks, and driveways may remain slick. Slow down, use caution when walking or driving, and take steps to prevent slips and falls. Check on neighbors and prepare for continued cold weather. Stay safe! ❄️🧊 pic.twitter.com/ybP7TzukDO
— Ready Fairfax (@ReadyFairfax) January 26, 2026
Fairfax County government offices, courts, libraries and public health centers will remain closed tomorrow, and Fairfax County Public Schools has called for another snow day.
According to the Associated Press, at least 26 deaths have been reported across the U.S. during Winter Storm Fern, which dispensed snow over 1,300 miles from Texas and Arkansas to New England over the weekend.
A rising death toll included two people run over by snowplows in Massachusetts and Ohio, fatal sledding accidents in Arkansas and Texas, and a woman whose body was found covered in snow by police with bloodhounds after she was last seen leaving a Kansas bar. In New York City, officials said eight people were found dead outdoors in the course of the frigid weekend.
There were still more than 690,000 power outages in the nation Monday afternoon, according to poweroutage.com. Most of them were in the South, where weekend blasts of freezing rain caused tree limbs and power lines to snap, inflicting crippling outages on northern Mississippi and parts of Tennessee.
Power outages so far have been limited in Fairfax County, though Dominion Energy reported that approximately 48,000 of its customers were affected at some point during the storm.
Traffic incidents seemed manageable as well. In total, the Virginia State Police responded to 58 crashes in Northern Virginia, four of which resulted in injuries. A fatal crash on Saturday (Jan. 24) was determined to have occurred before snow began to fall.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger thanked community members for heeding officials’ advice and avoiding traveling, reporting that traffic was down over 80% across the state yesterday.
“You are allowing @VaDOT crews to clear the roads more quickly and allowing emergency responders to safely contend with this winter storm,” Spanberger said in a social media post.
⚠️ Traffic on our roads was down more than 80 percent across Virginia yesterday.
THANK YOU for staying home.
You are allowing @VaDOT crews to clear the roads more quickly and allowing emergency responders to safely contend with this winter storm.
— Governor Abigail Spanberger (@GovernorVA) January 26, 2026
