What’s the difference between MLB Opening Day and the home opener?

 

View from Nationals Park, April 2025

Although MLB’s official Opening Day in 2026 is on March 25, the Washington Nationals start the season on the road on March 26. The Nationals won’t play their first home game of the 2026 season until Friday, April 3 at 1:05 p.m. when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Although the 2026 season will be the 18^th one at Nationals Park, it will be the Nationals 21^st season overall (not including the COVID-shortened season of 2020). Fans may recall the Nationals played their first three seasons at RFK Stadium, until Nationals Park opened at the start of the 2008 season. Since new seasons are full of promise, the beginning of baseball season is an exciting time for baseball fans.

The home opener is different from Opening Day since teams don’t always start the season in their home ballpark. Nationals fans will be in store for an exciting season at Nationals Park with new food choices, including “Colony Grill Pizza” and “Stuggy's Gourmet Dogs.” There will also be a variety of promotions, such as Star Wars Day on May 2 and six “Pups in the Park” games scattered throughout the season.

Since MLB teams alternate between starting the season at home and on the road, the dates of Opening Day and the home opener can fluctuate by as much as two weeks. The Nationals earliest home game of the regular season was Opening Day on March 28, 2019 (an 0-2 loss to the N.Y. Mets). The latest the Nationals had their home opener was on April 14, 2005 (a 5-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks).

The warmest Opening Day or home opener at Nationals Park occurred on April 5, 2010, when hosting the Philadelphia Phillies there was a high temperature of 83°. By comparison, DC's chilliest Opening Day was on March 31, 2011, against the Atlanta Braves, when daily high/low temperatures were only 42°/37°.

The rainiest Opening Day at Nationals Park was on April 7, 2022, when a total of 0.68" was recorded. Last season, the Nationals had Opening Day at home on a dry March 27 against the Philadelphia Phillies. It was exciting since the Nationals played their first extra innings game on Opening Day, but it ended in a 10-inning loss for the home team.

The Nationals combined record on Opening Day and home openers is 6-14. The last time the Nationals won on Opening Day or during a home opener was on Opening Day, April 6, 2021, in a 6-5 win over the Atlanta Braves. Average late-March and early-April weather in the nation’s capital features high temperatures in the upper 50s and low 60s. So, while it can be mild, it can also be quite chilly on Opening Day. 

Too early to think about hurricane season?

 

Dewey Beach, Delaware (August 2025)

Although the Atlantic hurricane season doesn’t officially get underway until June 1, a new NOAA report has a big clue as to what kind of season it could be. ENSO-neutral conditions (the lack of El Nino or La Nina) are expected to develop with a 55% chance they’ll continue through July. However, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center says a 62% chance exists that El Nino conditions will develop before the end of August and continue for the rest of the year.

El Nino, especially a strong episode of El Nino, is known for creating unfavorable conditions for tropical storm formation in the Atlantic. That’s because it’s characterized by below average sea surface temperatures and an increased amount of wind shear (i.e., winds that differ in direction with altitude). The tropical Atlantic saw below average activity during El Nino events (in 2015, 1997 and 1992). On the other hand, the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons often occur during episodes of La Nina. Even ENSO-neutral conditions (neither El Nino or La Nina) tend to feature more favorable conditions in the tropical Atlantic then El Nino conditions.

While the presence of La Nina or El Nino are major drivers of tropical activity, there are other factors to consider as well. The presence of atmospheric dust that sometimes travels west from central Africa into the tropical Atlantic can impact tropical storm formation. The presence of above or below average sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean Basin is also important to consider. The Atlantic Ocean Basin includes the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Much of the tropical Atlantic, has had unusually warm sea surface temperatures in recent years. That’s lingered into early 2026, NOAA reports.

Having warmer than average sea surface temperatures combined with an above average amount of wind shear in the tropical Atlantic – associated with the anticipated El Nino – is exactly what makes the 2026 hurricane season forecast difficult. An average Atlantic hurricane season has 14 tropical storms, of which 7 become hurricanes with 3 major hurricanes. A “major” hurricane is a Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, with sustained winds of at least 111 mph.

However, the overall number of tropical storms and hurricanes is less important than how strong they become and/or where they track. For example, this summer will be 34 years since Hurricane Andrew, which remains one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes ever to make landfall in the United States. Ironically, it was the only major hurricane in what was an otherwise quieter than average 1992 Atlantic hurricane season. 

The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season also had a below average number of tropical storms (13), but included four major hurricanes. Three of the four major Atlantic hurricanes last season reached Category 5 intensity and that was the second highest total on record. So, a hurricane season can be busy with a higher than average number of named storms or a lower total of named storms, but with a higher number of intense storms. Distinguished scientists at NOAA and Colorado State University will issue their forecasts for the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season later this spring.

DC’s unusually warm March weather

 

More like spring (March 2020)

The nation’s capital has experienced seven of its 15 warmest March’s since 2010. March is a transitional weather month with the greatest extremes between monthly record high and record low temperatures.

March’s highly changeable weather has been on full display across the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) over the last week. Not only did the nation’s capital set record highs on March 10 (84°) and March 11 (86°), but those were DC’s warmest temperatures during the first half of March since 1990. Severe weather also occurred in the DMV twice over the last week as this month’s battle between winter and spring continues.

The nation’s capital averages one 80-degree March day in two out of every three years, according to NOAA. However, between DC’s three 80-degree days last March and the two so far this March, Washingtonians have already had more 80-degree March warmth than in any back-to-back March period since 1993. That combination, combined with four of DC’s 15 warmest March’s over just the last decade illustrates a recent pattern for warmer March’s.

While some of that warming can be attributed to the urban heat island effect and increased automobile traffic, a warming climate is also a factor. NOAA uses a 30-year dataset when measuring average temperatures and precipitation for the United States that’s updated every decade. NOAA updated its averages five years ago to reflect the 30-year period of 1991-2020, replacing the previous 1981-2010 period. Since the 2010s were a much warmer decade than the 1980s, DC’s average temperatures for the entire year increased, not just in March.

The recent warm weather doesn’t mean Washingtonians won’t see colder or snowier than average March weather going forward. For example, March was DC’s snowiest month of the year five times between 2009-2018. That helps underscore how March weather can fluctuate significantly from one year to the next.

DC’s warmest March’s (Source: NOAA)

1. 56.8° (2012)
2. 56.2° (1945)
3. 55.5° (1921)
4. 54.3° (2025)
5. 53.5° (2016)
6. 53.2° (2020)
7. 53.0° (1946)
8. 52.7° (1977)
9. 51.9° (2024)
10. 51.7° (2000)
11. 51.5° (1979)
12. 51.3° (1976)
13. 51.2° (2021, 2010, 1910)
 
47.6° - Average