Thanksgiving in the Nation’s Capital

 

Some may wonder why Thanksgiving falls on a different date every year.  Federal law proclaimed it a national holiday to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.  That means Thanksgiving 2021 will occur on November 24 when D.C.’s average high/low temperatures are 54°/38°.   

Washingtonians had a mild Thanksgiving last year with an October-like high/low of 67°/51° on November 26.  However, D.C.’s warmest Thanksgiving occurred on November 22, 2007 with a record high temperature of 77°.  By comparison, Washingtonians had a very cold Thanksgiving in 2018 when the high/low was only 42°/29° on November 22. 

Longtime Washingtonians may recall that it was 32 years ago when area residents last experienced a snowy Thanksgiving.  That Thanksgiving, on November 23, 1989, had a two-day snow total of 3.5”.  November 1989 finished 1.6° colder than average and was followed by DC’s coldest December since 1917.  In fact, 1989 remains the only time Washingtonians had both a snowy Thanksgiving and a snowy Christmas.

Accumulating November snowfall in the Nation’s Capital has been exceedingly rare in recent years, with only one such occurrence since 2000.  Daily snowfall records were set at all three D.C. Area airports on November 15, 2018.  In fact, when NOAA updated its climate averages earlier this year to reflect the 30-year period of 1991-2020, replacing the 1981-2010 data set, D.C.’s November snowfall average dropped from 0.5” to 0.1”.  There will be days with snow flurries that don’t accumulate.  However, without any accumulation to measure, there isn’t any quantifiable metric for how often that type of weather event occurs in the Nation’s Capital.

D.C.’s weather this November has been streaky with several warmer than average days alternating with several days of below average temperatures.  Following D.C.’s coolest first week of November since 2002, Washingtonians have enjoyed four days with highs in the 70s, including yesterday’s high of 74°.  However, that will be D.C.’s final 70° day of the month.

Washington, D.C.’s Five Coldest Thanksgiving’s by High Temperature (Source: NOAA)

 

1.  30°: November 27, 1930
2.  33°: November 28, 1901
     33°: November 26, 1903
3.  35°: November 23, 1989
     35°: November 28, 1996

 

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Washington, D.C.’s Five Warmest Thanksgiving’s by High Temperature (Source: NOAA)

1.  77°: November 22, 2007
2.  75°: November 22, 1979
     75°: November 20, 1941
3.  75°: November 30, 1933
     73°: November 24, 1927