January snowstorms batter DC

 

January 2019 snowfall, Bethesda, Maryland

Three of DC’s 10 largest winter storms have occurred in January, including the memorable 1996 and 2016 blizzards. What’s more, there have been many other, smaller but still significant January storms in the nation’s capital. These are some of the standout ones since 2000.

January 2025: DC’s largest winter storm in six years occurred on January 6 when 7.2” of snow fell at National Airport. This storm made last January a snowier than average month for the third time in the last four years. Last January that also finished as DC’s coldest January since 2014.

January 2022: The monthly snowfall total was 12.3". The largest winter storm took place on January 3 with 6.9" of snow. What made that snowfall impressive is that it occurred following 10 consecutive warmer than average days, including highs in the 60s on January 1 and January 2.

January 2019: The signature winter storm of the 2018-2019 season was a long-lived event that spanned three consecutive days. A total of 10.3" was recorded at National Airport from January 12 – 14 and remains the last 10"/+ snowfall in the nation's capital. This month finished as one of four snowier than average January’s Washingtonians have experienced in just the last seven years.

January 2000: Longtime Washingtonians may recall the largest winter storm of the season that occurred late in the month. Dubbed the “Surprise storm of 2000,” the January 25 snow event remains one of the larger failures of numerical weather prediction (computer weather modeling). Originally expected to stay to our south and go out to sea, this storm instead came far enough north to bring 9”-18” of snow to the DMV (D.C., Maryland and Virginia).

Not until late evening on Monday, January 24, did DMV meteorologists update the forecast to include accumulating snowfall. In an era before social media, most folks who had gone to bed woke up Tuesday morning to a surprise snow day. Daily January 25 snowfall records occurred at the three major DMV airports in what was the largest snow event in the nation’s capital since the Blizzard of 1996.

DCA (National Airport): 9.3”
Dulles Airport (IAD): 10.3”
BWI Airport: 14.9”

A cold and snowy January?

 

January snowfall (Photo Credit: Susan Granzow)

Despite last month being DC’s coldest December in 15 years, 2025 still finished as DC’s 11^th consecutive warmer than average year. Last year was also the third consecutive drier than average year in the nation’s capital.

January is traditionally the coldest month of the year in the nation’s capital with an average monthly temperature (combining daily high/low temperatures) of 37.5°. NOAA updated its temperature and precipitation averages to reflect the 30-year period of 1991-2020. Since the 2010s were a much warmer decade than the 1980s, it’s not surprising that January’s average temperature increased by 1.8° in Washington, D.C., when the 2010s replaced the 1980s in NOAA’s calculations.

DC’s coldest time of the year based on average temperature occurs in mid-January. The daily average high/low temperatures are 44°/30° for a six-day stretch from January 14 – January 19. The warmest January temperature on record was 80° that occurred on January 26, 2024. By comparison, DC’s coldest January temperature was -14° on January 1, 1881.

Although the nation's capital averages 2.86" of January rainfall, Washingtonians have experienced below average precipitation in seven of the last 10 January’s. DC’s average January snowfall total fell from 5.6” to 4.9” when NOAA’s updated its averages to reflect the 30-year period of 1991-2020.

It’s important to remember January doesn’t have to be colder than average to be snowier than average. For example, January 2024 was a snowier than average month in the nation’s capital with 7.8” of snow, but finished 2.3° warmer than average. Meanwhile, last January was both snowier than average (8.3”) and 3.2° colder than average. Before 2024-2025, the nation’s capital hadn’t experienced above average January snowfall in consecutive years since 2009-2010.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center expects this month to be colder than average with near average precipitation in the nation’s capital. Winter weather enthusiasts should remember that the right ingredients need to come together only once to produce an epic winter storm. That’s what happened in January 2016 when DC’s fourth largest winter storm occurred.

A closer look at December’s wild weather

 

A view of National Harbor

This December will finish as DC’s coldest since 2010. Although it will also finish as a drier than average month, Washingtonians still experienced the highest December snowfall total in eight years.

The first 17 days of December were colder than average in the nation’s capital. The coldest day was December 15 with daily high/low temperatures of 29°/18°. While nine days since December 18 were warmer than average, this month will still finish more than four degrees colder than average. With a monthly average temperature of 37.5° as of December 30, this month will be DC’s coldest since 2010 (34.6°).

December will also finish as a drier than average month with only 1.77”, well below the monthly average of 3.41”. This month’s wettest day was December 2 with 0.86” of rain and a high temperature of only 42° (11° below average). Only 1.5” of snow fell this month. While below DC’s December average of 1.7”, it was still the highest monthly total since 2017 (1.9”). 

New Year’s Eve will feature colder than average temperatures in the nation’s capital. That will end DC’s recent trend for warmer than average weather on December 31 that lasted from 2018 – 2024. Measurable rainfall also occurred on four of the last seven New Year’s Eves in the nation’s capital.

As a whole, 2025 will finish as a drier than average year with a rainfall deficit of more than 6” at National Airport. This will be DC’s third consecutive drier than average year. Despite an unusually cold December in the nation’s capital, this year will also finish as DC’s tenth consecutive warmer than average year due to a very warm March, April and July.