Will there be April surprises?

 

Signs of spring abound.

April is a highly variable weather month in Washington, D.C. that can sometimes feature chilly March-like weather. However, it can also bring summer-like warmth with highs in the 80s and 90s.  Average daily high/low temperatures in the nation’s capital range from 62°/43° on April 1 to 73°/53° by April 30. DC’s hottest April temperature of 95° occurred most recently on April 17, 2002. That’s compared to DC’s coldest April temperature of 15° on April 1, 1923.    

The nation’s capital had 11 warmer than average April’s since 2004. April 2017 and April 2019 were DC’s warmest and second warmest on record. Sandwiched in between was April 2018 that finished as DC’s coolest since 1997. That helps illustrate how changeable DC’s spring weather can be from one year to the next.

Washington, D.C. averages 3.21” of April rainfall, according to NOAA. The nation’s capital has seen a high degree of variability in April rainfall over the last decade. April 2014 and April 2020 both rank among DC’s 10 wettest. That’s compared to DC’s relatively dry April 2016 that finished with only 2.05” of rain. 

While showers and thunderstorms become more common as the spring wears on, they can occur at any point in April. Today and tomorrow, for example, my colleagues and I on the WUSA9 Weather Team are tracking the potential for scattered showers and thunderstorms. It isn’t expected to be as large a severe weather event as on April 6, 2017, when two tornadoes touched down within DC city limits. Meanwhile, the latest in the spring that measurable snowfall has occurred in the Nation’s Capital was April 28, 1898 (0.5”).

NOAA's Climate Prediction Center expects this month to be both warmer and wetter than average in the DC Metro Area. That hasn't happened since April 2020. It also follows DC's eighth warmest March and rainiest since 1998.