How Does the 2021-2022 Winter Compare to Average ?

 

January 2022 was a snowy month in the D.C. Metro Area

There has been something for everyone in the Nation’s Capital during the 2021-2022 winter season.  There have been major swings between warmer and drier than average conditions in December to colder and snowier than average in January.  Meteorological winter runs from December 1 through February 28.

This February is well-positioned to finish warmer and wetter than average.  Average monthly temperatures (combining daily high and low temperatures) are 1.8° above average through February 20.  Temperatures are expected to remain above average for much of this week, so that trend will continue.  Although the month has been dry with only 1.69” of rain, there are several rain chances during the upcoming week that should all but guarantee it will finish wetter than average.  According to NOAA, D.C.’s February average of 2.62” of rain, makes it the driest month of the year on average. 

January 2022 was D.C.’s coldest since 2014, with an average monthly temperature of 34.6° (nearly 3° below average).  It was also D.C.’s snowiest month since January 2016, with 12.3” of snow.  The largest winter storm last month occurred on January 3 with 6.9”.  Ironically, more snow fell last month than D.C.’s combined total for the previous two winters (2019-2020 and 2020-2021) that added up to only 6.0”.

December 2021 finished as D.C.’s second warmest on record with an average temperature of 47.6° (5.9° above average).  D.C.’s net swing in temperature of 8.8° between December 2021 and January 2022 made January’s cold feel particularly severe.  This past December was a mild month in the Nation’s Capital with 23 days that were warmer than average.  In fact, 12 of these days were at least 10° milder than average, including two days when high temperatures reached 70°.

December 2021 was also a dry month in the Nation’s Capital with only 0.63” of rain, compared to D.C.’s December average of 3.41”.  No snow was observed in Washington, D.C. during the entire month of December 2021.  That made it the eighth December in the last 10 years that finished with below average snowfall (1.7”) in the Nation’s Capital. 

Since December 2021 and February 2022 were both significantly warmer than average, that will offset how cold January 2022 was.  The 2021-2022 winter, as a whole, will be warmer than average.  Also, this winter will finish with slightly below average snowfall.  The seasonal total is poised to finish with 12.3”, making it less than the seasonal snowfall average of 13.7” in Washington, D.C.