The Winds of Change

Washingtonians have experienced a dramatic shift in the weather pattern in what has become the coldest weather yet of the fall season.  Through November 19, this month had been four degrees warmer than average in Washington, D.C. with an average temperature of 55.5 degrees (combining daily high and low temperatures).

Contributing to that warmth were the high temperatures this past Friday and Saturday, November 18 and 19 (70F and 72F).  That was the first time DC residents experienced consecutive highs in the 70s after November 15 since 2011. High temperatures in the low 70s are more characteristic of early October than mid-November in Washington, D.C.  A powerful cold front brought an abrupt end to the unseasonal warmth over the weekend.  Yesterday’s high temperature of 47 degrees made Sunday a whopping 25 degrees colder than Saturday.  Sunday was the coldest day in the Nation’s Capital since April 5 (46F). 

Unfortunately, Saturday’s cold front only brought a scant amount of rainfall to the DC Metro Region (0.05” at National Airport).  It has been very windy and that led the National Weather Service to issue wind advisories.  (Wind advisories are issued when sustained winds of 31 to 39 mph or wind gusts of 46 – 57 mph are expected for 3 or more hours.)  The highest wind gust to occur at National Airport over the last two days was 49 mph.  The National Weather Service said some sleet occurred at Dulles Airport on November 19.  That resulted in the first trace of sleet or snow at Dulles since April 9.

This November has been remarkably similar to last year’s.  Area residents may recall that November 2015 was also warmer than average, with a monthly average temperature of 53.7 degrees (4.1 degrees above average) and six days that saw temperatures of at least 70 degrees.  Also, this month has had five days with temperatures at or above 70 degrees in Washington, D.C.  The final ten days of November 2015 saw three days with high temperatures in the 40s, four in the 50s and days in the 60s.

Today is poised to feature high temperatures in the upper 40s with more seasonal temperatures expected in the 50s later in the week.  Fortunately for area residents this week will be mostly dry with only some showers possible late Wednesday night into Thursday.  That won’t help with the Mid-Atlantic’s drought conditions, but will limit any weather difficulties for Thanksgiving travelers.  You can rely on my colleagues and I on the WUSA9 weather team for the latest weather updates.