What Can We Expect in December ?

NOAA's Temperature Outlook for December

December is the first month of meteorological winter that runs through the end of February.  While not as cold and snowy as January and February typically are, December can be very cold.  NOAA data shows temperatures in the Nation’s Capital fall from an average high/low of 52°/37° on December 1 to 44°/29° on New Year’s Eve. 

Washington, D.C.’s warmest December temperature on record was 79° on December 7, 1998.  By comparison, D.C.’s coldest December temperature was -13° on December 31, 1880.  While weather records in the Nation’s Capital date back to 1871, measurements were originally made downtown.  However, that shifted to National Airport once it opened in 1941.  DC’s coldest December temperature at National Airport was 3° on December 25, 1983.

December is the fourth driest month on average in Washington, D.C. (3.05”).  The wettest December occurred in 1901 (7.56”) and the driest was in 1889 (0.19”).  The Nation’s Capital also averages 2.3” of snow, making December the third snowiest month behind January and February.  Based on NOAA statistics for the 30-year period through 2010, Washington, D.C. averages 15.4” of snow in a given year.  The snowiest December occurred relatively recently in 2009 due to the city’s 8^th largest snowstorm on record.  The 16.4” of snow that fell on December 18-19, 2009, was also DC’s largest December snowfall.

It’s interesting to note that 10 of the last 15 Decembers have been wetter than average in Washington, D.C.  Meanwhile, 14 of the last 20 Decembers have also been warmer than average.  December 2015 was the warmest on record in Washington, D.C., with an average monthly temperature (combining daily high and low temperatures) of 51.2°, compared to the average of 39.7°.  

Longtime residents may recall that December 1989 tied for second coldest on record, with an average monthly temperature of 27.9°.  However, December weather isn’t always an accurate predictor of what the entire winter season will be like.  For example, November and December 1989 were much colder and snowier than average in Washington, D.C., with snow cover on both Thanksgiving and Christmas Days.  

But, the rest of the 1989-1990 winter was significantly warmer than average with below average snowfall.  By comparison, following the warmest December on record in 2015, DC experienced one of its largest snowstorms on record a few weeks later on January 22-23, 2016.  Although NOAA expects this December to be colder than average in the Mid-Atlantic Region with near average precipitation, that doesn’t mean that the entire winter will be that way.