DC’s cool and wet end to April

 

Photo Credit: Susan Granzow

April 2023 will finish as a warmer and wetter than average month in the nation’s capital. However, that isn’t representative of how the weather has been over the course of the entire month. Today’s appreciable rainfall will go a long way toward making up the rainfall deficit that’s accumulated during the dry start to 2023 in the DC Metro Area.

This month will finish with cooler than average temperatures on seven of its final eight days, including today. That follows the very warm first three weeks of April that had this month on track to potentially being one the warmest April’s on record in the nation’s capital. High temperatures were in the 80s eight times through April 21, for the second highest such total over the last 30 years. 

Only April 2017 saw a higher total (nine) and, appropriately, finished as DC’s warmest. The nation’s capital has averaged between three and four April days in the 80s over the last 30 years, according to NOAA. DC’s warmest temperature this month of 88° occurred twice (April 13, April 21).  It hasn’t been warmer in the nation’s capital during the month of April since April 29, 2017 (91°).

Aside from the big shift in temperatures over last week of April, DC’s other big weather story this month has been the onset of drought conditions. While drought conditions first surfaced in central Virginia and southern Maryland in late-March, it wasn’t until mid-April that they arrived in the immediate DC Metro Area. That’s not surprising as seven of eight months from August 2022 – March 2023 were drier than average in the nation’s capital. 

Not only did April get off to a very warm start, but the dry conditions of the previous eight months continued. The warm April temperatures served to acerbate the dry conditions in the DC Metro Area. Through April 21, only 0.83” of rain had fallen at National Airport. If no more rain occurred, that would have made this one of DC’s top 10 driest April’s. However, 2.21” of rain occurred at National Airport in the eight-day period through April 29. 

By the time today’s rainfall ends, April 2023 will be a wetter than average month in the nation’s capital. The rainy final week of April will also go a long way toward reducing the severity of the drought conditions in the DC Metro Area.