DC Enjoys a January Thaw

Following a frigid 12-day stretch from December 27 through January 7 when the Nation’s Capital endured 35° or low temps (including 9 days at or below freezing), the extreme cold has ended.  Dulles Airport in Sterling, Virginia was even more frigid, with a record 12 days =/<32° from December 26 through January 7.  Over this 12-day stretch, Dulles Airport set a total of six record low / record low high temperatures, according to the National Weather Service.  

Although no record cold occurred at National Airport, D.C. had a rare single digit temperature of 8° on January 7.  To add to that, the period from January 1 – 7 was DC’s fourth coldest on record, with a mean temperature of 19° at National Airport.  That’s significant because the colder January periods occurred before 1940.  It was the coldest January 1 – 7 on record at Dulles Airport.

Yesterday’s high temperature of 51° at National Airport was D.C.’s first above average temperature since Christmas Eve.  Temperatures for parts of the DC Metro Area could approach 60° on Friday.  Such temperatures aren’t expected until late-March.  However, sharply colder than average temperatures will return over the holiday weekend.

Washington, D.C.’s official weather reporting site has been National Airport (DCA) since 1942.  Prior to that, weather observations were made within city limits.  Weather records date back to 1871 in the Nation’s Capital overall.  The argument has been made that weather conditions at National Airport which lies along a body of water and near a highly urbanized area aren’t representative of the DC Metro Area as a whole.  Alternate weather reporting sites for the Nation’s Capital have been proposed such as at the White House and on the National Mall.  However, there hasn’t been any serious consideration of relocating the monitoring station from DCA.

Cold weather records at National Airport are very hard to set due to a variety of factors.  The majority of cold weather records in Washington, D.C. occurred prior to National Airport’s existence when the DC Metro Area was much less developed.  During the three months of meteorological winter (December, January and February), Washington, D.C. has had only two record lows and record low-high temperatures at National Airport since 1997.  Meanwhile, Dulles Airport has had a total of 42 over the same time frame.