May in the nation’s capital

 

Stellar May conditions

May has gotten off to a cool start in the nation’s capital following an unusually warm and dry March and April. May is the third and final month of "meteorological" spring and often feels like summer by the end of the month.

Average daily temperatures in May rise appreciably from a high/low of 73°/54° on May 1 to 80°/63° by the end of the month. DC’s hottest May temperature on record of 99° occurred on May 31, 1991. Meanwhile, DC’s coldest May temperature of 33° occurred long ago on May 11, 1906. 

DC’s May weather can be quite streaky. For example, four of DC’s 10 warmest May’s have happened since 2012. By comparison, four of the last six May’s have been cooler than average. May 2025 didn’t feature any 90-degree heat for the second time in the last three years.

May is DC’s third wettest month of the year according to NOAA, with an average monthly rainfall total of 3.94”. Rain can accumulate quickly this time of year. For instance, May 2008 was DC’s third wettest with 10.66” of rain. It had an incredible total of five days with an inch or more of rain. Last May was DC’s ninth wettest with 7.73”.

May is frequently an active severe weather month in the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia). On several dates a trace of snowfall (enough to accumulate, but not enough to measure) has occurred. However, it isn’t actually snow this time of year, but hail. For example, on May 2, 2016, a severe weather outbreak produced a lot of hail around the nation’s capital. Small accumulations of hail were reported in spots such as National Airport where a “trace” of frozen precipitation was observed.

Although summer doesn’t officially arrive until June, May often features summer-like heat. The nation’s capital has averaged between one and two May days with highs in the 90s over the last 30 years, according to NOAA. DC residents can also expect to see a high of at least 95° roughly once every five years, with the last such time being a high of 96° on May 31, 2022.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center expects May 2026 to feature near to below average temperatures with average rainfall in the nation’s capital. Even average May temperatures would prevent the three-month period of March, April and May from finishing among DC’s warmest “meteorological” springs.

DC’s dry April worsens drought

 

NOAA's three-month precipitation outlook

Despite the chilly and damp final few days of April, this month will still finish as a warmer and drier than average month in the nation’s capital. April will become DC’s ninth drier than average month over the past 12 months. That’s resulted in severe drought conditions across the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia).

The combination of a warmer and drier than average March and April has left the DMV in a difficult position heading into summer. Since 2025 was drier than average in the nation’s capital, this year got underway with a rainfall deficit of 6.26” that carried over from last year. Although the 2025-2026 winter season was DC’s coldest in more than two decades, it was also a drier than average season, so no ground was made up.

March and April will rank among DC’s Top 10 warmest. The combination of continued drier than average weather has led to the expansion of drought conditions across the DMV. That’s not good news for area gardens or farmers who depend on there being adequate rainfall.

However, the drier than average conditions over the last 12 months have been similar to other recent periods of abnormally dry weather in the DMV.  For example, DC experienced drier than average years in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Not since the mid-1980s has the nation’s capital experienced three consecutive drier than average years. Although there have been some wetter than average months over the last few years, they haven’t been enough to offset the predominantly drier than average weather. 

Before the current stretch of abnormally dry weather, the last time the nation’s capital experienced a drier than average period that lasted more than two years was a 32-month period from August 2015 – March 2018. However, as longtime Washingtonians may recall, 2018 finished as DC’s wettest year on record. That illustrates how a hard pivot can occur from drier than average to wetter than average conditions in the nation’s capital.

NOAA’s three-month outlook for May, June and July is for an increased chance of above average rainfall for much of the DMV.  That’s exactly what the nation’s capital needs heading into the summer months.

Driest April’s at Dulles Airport (Source: NOAA)

1. 0.33” (1985)
2. 0.93” (1967)
3. 1.17” (1963)
4. 1.29” (2010, 1968)
5. 1.31” (1976)
6. 1.34” (1969)
7. 1.62” (1978)
8. 1.67” (2026)
9. 1.71” (1994)

Average: 3.47”

Warmest April’s at Dulles Airport (Source: NOAA)

1. 61.0° (2017)
2. 60.1° (2026, 1994)
3. 59.3° (2010)
4. 59.1° (2023)
5. 59.0° (2024, 2019)
6. 57.7° (2025)
7. 57.3° (1960)
8. 57.1° (1985)

Average: 55.0°

DC’s bizarre April weather

 

A spring day in suburban Washington, D.C. (Photo Credit: Susan Granzow)

April 2026 will finish as one of DC’s Top 10 warmest despite the recent cooler than average weather. Half of DC’s Top 10 warmest April’s occurred in just the last decade. It will also be a drier than average month that’s exacerbated the drought conditions across the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia).

Following a warm start to April with 80-degree highs on three of the first four days, Washingtonians then experienced three consecutive days of below average temperatures from April 7 – 9. That included two days with lows in the 30s. There have been only five cooler than average days in the nation’s capital since April 9, including on April 21. That’s when DC had a low of 36°, while a record low of 27° occurred at Dulles Airport. The subfreezing temperatures across much of the DMV last week caused a lot of damage to the grape vines at some of the area wineries. 

Although temperatures will remain at or below average the rest of the month, there have already been 11 days high temperatures reached the 80s. That includes two days of 90-degree heat in Washington, D.C. Both are impressive weather benchmarks since the nation’s capital hadn’t experienced any 90-degree April heat since 2017. Washingtonians have averaged between only three and four days of 80-degree April warmth over the last 30 years, according to NOAA data.

While the nation’s capital will see additional rainfall later this week, it won’t be enough for April 2026 to finish with average rainfall. The nation’s capital averages 3.2l” of April rainfall.

Warmest April’s in Washington, D.C. (Source: NOAA)

1. 63.8° (2017)
2. 62.4° (2019)
3. 62.1° (2023, 1981)
4. 62.0° (2026, 1994)
5. 61.7° (2025)
6. 61.6° (1985)
7. 61.2° (1960)
8. 60.9° (2010)

Average – 58.2°