Average June Temperatures ?

June weather can be quite fickle in the D.C. Metro Area.  Monday’s high temperature of 67° in the Nation’s Capital is more characteristic of mid-April than mid-June.  With a low temperature of 61°, Monday was D.C.’s coolest day overall since May 18 (69°/57°).  Such cool June weather often coincides with rainy weather in the D.C. Metro Area.  True to form, June 11 was the twentieth day with rain in the Nation’s Capital in the previous 30 days.  

Average high and low temperatures in Washington, D.C. range from 80°/62° on June 1 to 88°/70° on June 30.  According to National Weather Service data, Washington, D.C. has averaged 17 June days with high temperatures in the 80s and between 7 and 8 days in the 90s over the last 24 years.  D.C. sees roughly one day per year with high temperatures in the 60s in June, so Monday’s temperatures are commensurate with that.  

Triple-digit heat is exceptionally rare in Washington, D.C.  Since 1993, Washingtonians have sweat through a total of five June days with 100° temperatures.  June 1994 was unusually hot with a record high of 101° on June 15.  It was also 100° in D.C. on June 25, 1997, and Washingtonians next experienced triple-digit June heat in 2010.  That was the first of three consecutive June’s to feature such sweltering temperatures.

By comparison, Washington, D.C.’s high temperature of 58° on June 3, 1997, was not only a record cool high temperature for the date, but 58° is actually cooler than the average low temperature (63°) for the date.  It’s also worth noting that 58° is D.C.’s average high temperature on March 21. 

Months with a high number of rainy days are often cooler than average due to the clouds and rainfall.  However, that’s not always the case.  For example, June 2015 was D.C.’s second wettest on record with a monthly total of 11.94” of rain.  Washingtonians also had 12 days with high temperatures in the 90s.  That contributed to making June 2015 the sixth warmest June on record in the Nation’s Capital.

So far, June 2018 has had six days with high temperatures in the 80s, four days with highs in the 70s and one each in the 90s and 60s.  That is roughly equivalent to the recent average June proportion of days with high temperatures in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.  Following rainfall on four consecutive days through June 11, some drier weather is ahead to close out the work week.  D.C.’s second heat wave of 2018 is possible early next week.