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X12NOP t1_j2b0kec wrote

It used to freeze regularly and required Key Bridge to be built with extra reinforcement upstream to brace against the ice floes.

The older Aqueduct Bridge had to be replaced due to river ice damage

> Ice jams were a routine hazard on the Potomac River into the 1960s. Although the jams often stuck against the bridge, it weathered them well until 1908. Ice damaged some of the bridge's piers, requiring reconstruction of Pier No. 1 in the summer.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqueduct_Bridge_(Potomac_River)

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StinkinFinger t1_j2dr0f6 wrote

It will again. We are in the positive (warm) phase of something called the North Atlantic Oscillation. It is a multi-decadal pattern in which the eastern seaboard experiences milder winters followed by decades of colder winters. When combined with El Niño we will have substantially more snow as well.

It can come out for a single winter. It’s pattern. We had a cold phase in 2010 and a strong El Niño and got hammered with ice storm after ice storm and had two blizzards. The coast got hit with three blizzards that winter

We’ve been in the positive phase since the late 80s.

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