Every afternoon, WTOP Traffic reporter Dave Dildine helps commuters in the D.C. region get home safely from work, detailing traffic jams every weekday on the 8s, how to get around them, and most importantly, why it’s happening. Now, Dildine is helping us all understand snow patterns in D.C. and has a little fun at the same time.
“Whether I’m doing traffic or whether I’m doing the side quest, I’m always looking for an opportunity to educate just a little bit more, to take it further, to find the ‘why,'” Dildine said. “I like there to always be a learning opportunity.”
Which is why he’s releasing a pet project called the “Snowzilla Gauge.” The gauge is a 3-foot-tall, 6-inch-wide wooden snow stick that will measure winter storms of the D.C. area.
Dildine said it also includes information on some of our most memorable storms, “including the 1979 Presidents Day surprise snowstorm,” which dropped nearly two feet of snow in the suburbs.
Marked at the top of the gauge is the infamous 1922 snowstorm, which produced the District’s largest single storm snow total of 28 inches.
Dildine said the gauge also shows how often, based on snow history records, the region received an inch of snow, two inches, or a foot of snow, for example. He strongly believes that understanding a current event requires considering a range of possibilities, from normal to extreme.
“There’s always a little bit more to the story, and I feel like it’s that added detail that can help people in the long run,” he said.
The added detail is a hallmark of Dildine’s traffic reports, but how did a traffic guru get so interested in weather and snowstorms?
Dildine explains it goes back to childhood: “Seven years old, I was always identifying clouds, and then through grade school, I created a binder full of winter storms,” he said.
That passion for weather has never weakened, and the “Snowzilla Gauge” brings together his passion and knowledge of the area’s storms.
Dildine thinks a lot of people are intrigued by snow.
“There are a lot of people who are enthused by the prospect of heavy snow and enchanted by it. There are a lot more of them than you might think,” he said.
The back of the “Snowzilla Gauge” also teaches people about the difference between snow totals and snow depth, and other observations about our snowstorms.
Cars break down by the hundreds, and snow occurs every winter, but Dildine said he tries to challenge people to fixate less on normalcy and more on the bigger picture and events.
“I’m stuck in traffic, but with a passion for weather,” he said.
For those interested in purchasing a Snowzilla Gauge, email Dave at dave.dildine@wtop.com!
WTOP’s Dave Dildine contributed to this report.