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Winter Storm Fern brought Fairfax County to a near standstill Sunday, Jan. 25, even though preliminary snowfall totals failed to match the county’s largest storm of 2025.
Unofficial measurements collected by National Weather Service staff and trained spotters ranged from 5.5 to 8.5 inches of snow and sleet across the county.
Rose Hill and Vienna recorded the highest selected totals at 8.5 inches. The Rose Hill measurement was taken at 6 p.m. Sunday, while Vienna’s was reported at 7 a.m. Monday.
The Town of Herndon received 8.2 inches, and 8 inches was measured near Fair Lakes Shopping Center, which the National Weather Service identified as southeast Chantilly.
Other preliminary totals included 7.5 inches in West Springfield, 7.3 inches at Cub Run Rec Center, 6.6 inches in Chantilly, 6.5 inches in Centreville, 6 inches in McLean and 5.5 inches in Fairfax Station.
Just over the Loudoun County line, Dulles International Airport officially recorded 7.8 inches by midnight Monday.
The Jan. 5-6, 2025, storm produced higher totals in parts of Fairfax County, ranging from 5.9 inches in Herndon to 10 inches in Newington. Fern’s accumulation was closer to amounts recorded during the Feb. 11, 2025, storm.
Despite the lower snow totals, Fern proved unusually disruptive because heavy sleet mixed with the snow. Measurements included as much as 4 inches of ice pellets, reportedly the most seen in the Washington region since at least February 1994. The storm’s packed water content was comparable to that of a 20-inch blizzard.
Washington has now experienced above-normal January snowfall for three consecutive years.
With temperatures expected to stay below freezing through the week, the compacted snow and sleet could take time to melt. Fairfax County officials warned that roads, sidewalks and driveways may remain slippery for several days.
County government offices, courts, libraries and public health centers will remain closed Tuesday. Fairfax County Public Schools also announced another snow day.
Power failures were relatively limited in Fairfax County, although Dominion Energy reported that about 48,000 customers lost service at some point during the storm.
Virginia State Police responded to 58 crashes in Northern Virginia, including four that caused injuries. Authorities determined that a fatal crash Saturday, Jan. 24, happened before snow began falling.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger said statewide traffic dropped by more than 80% Sunday as residents followed warnings to stay off the roads. She said the lighter traffic helped Virginia Department of Transportation crews clear roads more quickly and allowed emergency responders to operate more safely.
Nationally, at least 26 deaths were reported during Fern, which spread snow across roughly 1,300 miles from Texas and Arkansas to New England over the weekend.
The deaths included people struck by snowplows in Massachusetts and Ohio, fatal sledding accidents in Arkansas and Texas, and a woman found covered in snow after she was last seen leaving a Kansas bar. New York City officials said eight people were found dead outdoors during the frigid weekend.
More than 690,000 power outages remained Monday afternoon, concentrated largely in the South. Freezing rain brought down tree limbs and power lines, causing severe outages in northern Mississippi and parts of Tennessee.