A Tale of Two Extremes

Washingtonians have experienced June-like warmth over the last two days with high temperatures of 84° and 81° on April 8 and 9, respectively.  While not record-setting, those temperatures are significantly above the average highs for this time of year, which are in the mid-60s.  The Nation’s Capital isn’t supposed to see temperatures in the 80s on a daily basis until May 31.  

DC’s high of 84° on April 8 was the first 80° day in the Nation’s Capital since October 11, 2018 (83°).  It was also the earliest in the season DC has been that warm since April 4, 2011.  It’s worth considering, too, that while weather records in the Nation’s Capital date back to the 1870s, they have been measured at two different locations historically.  Starting in 1871, weather records were kept for Washington, D.C. downtown.  However, that changed in the early 1940s when National Airport opened and where weather records have been kept since.

DC has averaged three to four April days with temperatures in the 80s dating back to 1993.  That ranges from a high of nine such days in April 2017 to no 80° warmth in 1997 or 1998.  Meanwhile, DC residents have had a 90° April temperature roughly every other year over the last 25 years.  DC’s hottest stretch of April weather in recent times occurred from April 16 – 18, 2002, with daily high temperatures of 92°, 95° and 91°.

On the opposite extreme, Washingtonians have had temperatures at or below freezing at the same rate, roughly one such day every other year.  The last time it was </=32° in April was in 2016.  The last time DC residents experienced frigid April temperatures in the 20s was in 2007.

Prior to this week, Washingtonians had not had consecutive 80° days during the first 10 days of April since 2013.  Making this week even more remarkable is the unusually cold first two days of April when high temperatures were more characteristic of late-February, with highs in the low 50s on April 1 and 2.  Over just a six-day span, Washingtonians experienced a swing in temperatures that normally takes 3.5 months.  DC’s high of 50° on April 2 is the average high temperature on February 25 and the April 8 high of 84° isn’t DC’s average high until June 13.