Winter is Here. Now What?

It’s with some irony that parts of the DC Metro Region had light snow this morning as January comes to a close.  That’s because this winter has had little snow to this point, with an official total of only 1.4” at National Airport.  Through January 29, this month’s average temperature of 42.4 degrees is 6.4 degrees warmer than average in Washington, D.C.  That would make this January the warmest in DC since 2006 (43.1 degrees). 

Contributing to making this month so warm is an impressive record streak of 18 consecutive days when temperatures remained above freezing.  High temperatures reached the 50s on eight different days this month, while temperatures fell below freezing on only six occasions.  The high temperature of 72 degrees on January 12 was DC’s warmest day since mid-November. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum was the brief round of very cold weather early this month.  From January 6 – 8, high temperatures in the Nation’s Capital remained in the 20s for the coldest January stretch since 2014.  Had it not been for this period of unusual cold, this month would have ranked higher on the list of warmest Januarys in the Nation’s Capital.  Still, given the current average monthly temperature of 42.4 degrees, January 2017 will rank as the twelve warmest on record according to National Weather Service data. 

Some perceive this month as being rather dreary since measurable precipitation occurred on 13 days with another seven days seeing a trace of precipitation.  None of it was especially heavy, with the wettest day being January 3 when 0.86” fell at National Airport.  The monthly total of 2.75” is very close to the monthly average of 2.81”.

Conditions at Dulles Airport have been similar with an average monthly temperature of 39.8 degrees through January 29.  This could be Dulles’ warmest January in more than a decade.  Dulles Airport saw a record high of 70 degrees on January 12, in addition to five days that either tied or set new record high-low temperatures.  Having such warm overnight temperatures were a key contributor to making this month so much warmer than average.  This morning’s light snow helped bring Dulles Airport’s monthly snowfall total to 1” compared to January’s average of 7.3”.

The combination of a significantly warmer than average January, following the sixth consecutive warmer than average December in Washington, D.C., puts the 2016-2017 winter season in a strong position to finish warmer than average.  Meteorological winter is the three-month period of December, January and February.  NOAA’s temperature outlook for February calls for a cooler than average start to the month and near average temperatures for the entire month in this part of the country.