D.C.’s Cold Start to February

 

A Cold Day in Washington, D.C.

January 2023 finished as the third warmest on record in the Nation’s Capital and warmest since 1950.  It was also a drier than average month with below average rainfall and no measurable snowfall for the first time since 2006.  Last month was also the warmest January on record at Dulles Airport and was also its driest since 2008.

No sooner had the calendar flipped to February, then accumulating snowfall arrived in the early morning hours of February 1.  All three D.C. Area airports saw their first measurable snowfall of the winter season.  The 0.4” at National Airport was the first accumulating snowfall there since March 12, 2022. 

February is D.C.’s snowiest month of the year on average with 5.0”, according to the National Weather Service.  Six of D.C.’s 10 largest snow events have occurred in February with the most recent being “Snowmageddon” in February 2010.  However, Washington, D.C. hasn’t had a snowier than average February since 2015. 

February is also the driest month of the year on average in Washington, D.C. with a monthly rainfall average of only 2.62”.  However, four of the last five February’s have been wetter than average in the Nation’s Capital.  Above average rainfall would be beneficial this February, since five of the last six months have been drier than average dating back to last August.

Average daily high/low temperatures range from 46°/30° on February 1 to 52°/34° on February 28.  Five of the last six February’s were warmer than average in the Nation’s Capital.  That includes D.C.’s warmest February on record in 2017.  In a rare set of circumstances, February was warmer than March in the Nation’s Capital in both 2017 and 2018.

D.C.’s coldest February temperature occurred on February 11, 1889 (-15°).  By comparison, D.C.’s warmest February temperature overall was 84° (February 25, 1930).  In fact, D.C.’s earliest 80° temperature of the year occurred relatively recently on February 21, 2018 (82°).

Despite the colder than average start to the month, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center expects this month to be both warmer and wetter than average in the D.C. Metro Area.  However, the right ingredients need to come together only once to produce a significant winter storm.