DC’s chilly start to May

 

A Stellar Saturday in the Nation's Capital !

The weather at the start of May in the nation’s capital couldn’t have been more different then the weather April got underway with.  While the first three weeks of last month featured warmth more characteristic of June, the first few days of May have felt more like March. 

May’s average temperature (combining daily high/low temperatures) through the first four days of the month was 9.1° below normal.  That includes two days when the nation’s capital had highs only in the 50s.  Dulles Airport even tied a 2004 record low-high temperature on May 3 when it was only 56°. 

This unusually cool start to May is reminiscent of some recent stretches of chilly May weather.  The nation’s capital saw highs in the 50s on three days from May 5 – May 9, 2020.  DC’s high temperature of 52° on May 9, 2020 tied the existing record low-high for the date from 1877.  It was also the first record-low high to occur during the month of May since 2003. 

May 2021 had a similar two-day stretch of very chilly weather with highs in the 50s at National Airport on May 29 and May 30.  Last May got off to a cool and rainy start with rain on six of the first eight days.  Highs in the nation’s capital remained in the 50s on May 7 and May 8, 2022, but no records were set.

Not since 2019 have Washingtonians experienced a May without any days of high temperatures in the 50s.  DC residents have averaged between one and two May days with highs in the 50s over the last 30 years, according to NOAA.  Fortunately, following the rainy and cool final week of April, a major shift in the weather pattern is underway.  The temperature outlook through mid-May, from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, is for above average temperatures in the nation’s capital. 

Average highs in Washington, D.C. are in the 70s for most of May.  Starting on May 28, average highs in the nation’s capital are at least 80° for the rest of the summer.  That also helps to underscore how 90° heat in May is almost as unusual as highs in the 50s.  DC has averaged slightly more 90° May heat over the last 30 years than days with highs in the 50s.  Last May featured two May days in the 90s, including a high of 96° on May 31.