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Disputed D.C. snowfall report triggers review of procedures

Snow is removed from a parking lot at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport, Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. Flights remained delayed or canceled in the aftermath of a massive weekend blizzard that slammed into the eastern U.S., wreaking havoc on travel in the nation’s busiest cities, with airports in the New York City and Washington D.C. metro areas were the hardest hit. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Snow is removed from a parking lot at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport, Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. Flights remained delayed or canceled in the aftermath of a massive weekend blizzard that slammed into the eastern U.S., wreaking havoc on travel in the nation’s busiest cities, with airports in the New York City and Washington D.C. metro areas were the hardest hit. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

By Associated Press January 25, 2016 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal weather officials are launching a review of snow-measurement procedures after a weekend storm produced suspiciously low readings at Reagan National Airport near Washington.

The 17.8-inch snowfall reported there was several inches less than totals reported at five locations in the District of Columbia.

The Washington Post reported that airport weather observers lost their snow-measuring device in the blizzard. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spokeswoman Susan Buchanan would say only that “questions were raised about the reading.”

As a result, she said the National Weather Service would assemble an internal review team to assess how snow measurements are taken at Reagan National and other locations.

Retired weather service climatologist Robert Leffler says Reagan National has an unusually warm microclimate that doesn’t reflect the District’s weather as a whole.