The Start of 2023 vs. the Start of 2022

 

May 2023 has gotten off to a cool and dry start in the nation’s capital. Only one of the first nine days was warmer than average and that’s produced a monthly average temperature that’s 4.5° below average. In addition to being chilly, it’s also been a dry first third of May with a combined rainfall total of only 0.13” at National Airport.

Although last May also got off to a cooler than average start, it was quite rainy with 3.3” of rain over the first third of the month. May 2022 finished as a wetter than average month with near average monthly temperatures. That’s because the second half of May 2022 was quite warm. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center expects warmer than average weather over the next 10 – 14 days in the nation’s capital, which would follow last May’s temperature trend.

Otherwise, the first four months of this year couldn’t be more dissimilar than the equivalent period last year. Three of the first four months of 2022 were cooler than average in the nation’s capital.  January 2022 was DC’s coldest since 2014. It was also DC’s snowiest month (12.3”) since January 2016 (18.8”). By comparison, January 2023 was DC’s third warmest and featured no measurable snowfall. 

Like January, February 2023 also finished as DC’s third warmest with only 0.4” of snow. That was the only accumulating snowfall of the entire 2022-2023 winter season. Both months were also drier than average. 

This past March was DC’s fourth consecutive warmer than average March. It was also drier than average for a third consecutive year. A key difference between this March and March 2022, however, was that the previous six-month period dating back to last August 2022, was drier than average. That led to abnormally dry conditions, a precursor to drought conditions, to develop across much of the Mid-Atlantic Region by late-March 2023. 

Fortunately, a very rainy final week of April helped alleviate much of the moderate drought conditions that developed across the DC Metro Area. However, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is calling for “near average” rainfall across the Mid-Atlantic Region over the next few weeks. That prediction is unlikely to make up any more of DC’s rainfall deficit.