A Taste of Winter

There has been a dramatic swing in temperatures in the DC Metro Area over the first two weeks of November.  This month got off to an exceptionally warm start over the first six days, with November 3 being the warmest day of the month.  Its high and low temperatures of 78° and 58° are more typical of late May.

Following the very warm start to the month, there was a major shift in the weather pattern and the last eight days have been significantly cooler than average in the DC Metro.  This past Saturday, November 11, has been the coldest day so far this month with a high/low temperature of 39°/26°. 

That was DC’s coldest November day since November 25, 2013 (38°/24°) and coldest day overall since March 15, 2017 (33°/22°).  To add to that, the November 11 low temperature of 26° tied the record low for the date and was DC’s first record low temperature in November since 1976.  Consequently, the average monthly temperature through November 13 in the Nation’s Capital is 1.1° below average. 

This month had measurable rainfall on six of the first 14 days for a total of 1.91” of rain, making it 0.55” wetter than average so far.  The wettest day was November 7, when 1.07” fell at National Airport.  That was DC’s largest daily rainfall total since August 7 (1.47”).  The last time 1.00”/+ fell on a November day in DC was on November 26, 2014 (1.06”).

Although every November since 2009 has been drier than average, only the last three have been warmer than average.  That underscores how much weather variability Washingtonians can experience in November.  NOAA expects the below average temperatures to continue over much of the eastern United States for the next two weeks.  If November 2017 finishes as a cooler than average month in the Nation’s Capital, then it would be only the third cooler than average month of 2017.  However, November’s weather is not a good indicator of what the upcoming winter weather will be like.