2018 Has Become DC’s Wettest Year Ever !

Weather ducks would love !

Residents of the Nation’s Capital are in the midst of a very wet mid-December weekend that has made 2018 DC’s wettest year on record.  The Nation’s Capital officially broke its longstanding record (61.33” set in 1889) at 6:26 AM, when a total of 61.34” had accumulated at National Airport since January 1.  The rain has continued for much of the day since then, which only pads the 2018 record.  By comparison, Washington, D.C. averages 39.74” of rain in a given year so Washingtonians are currently at approximately 150% of the annual average.  

It has been a stunning turnaround in the DC Metro Area after one of the longest dry periods in recent memory in this part of the country.  From August 2015 through March 2018, Washington, D.C. experienced drier than average weather in 25 of those 31 months.  That produced a combined rainfall deficit of 16.42” in the Nation’s Capital, with intermittent periods of moderate drought in parts of the Mid-Atlantic Region.  

DC’s weather pattern then proceeded to change rather dramatically in April 2018.  Washingtonians experienced wetter than average conditions in six of the seven months from April 2018 through November 2018.  A slew of rainfall records were set during that time, including DC’s wettest November on record, as well as the fifth wettest July day on record.  The 4” on July 21 also made it DC’s wettest day, overall, since September 30, 2010 (4.66”).  With 1.42” of rain on November 24, Washington, D.C. also set a new record for highest number of days (22) in a calendar year with at least one inch of rain.  (The previous record of 21 such days occurred in 1878).  

Today became DC’s twenty-third day with at least one inch of rain.  Prior to today, Washington, D.C. hasn’t had a December day with at least one inch of rain since December 6, 2016 (1.03”).  You have to go back more than seven years to December 7, 2011 for the last time DC had at least 2” of rain on a December day (3.1”).  The Nation’s Capital averages 3.05” of rain in all of December.

Aside from putting DC over the top and breaking its annual rainfall record, today’s rainfall is also significant for coming after DC’s longest stretch of dry weather in more than a year.  No rainfall occurred in Washington, D.C. from December 3 through December 13.  The last time DC had 11 or more consecutive days without rain was September 15 through October 6, 2017.