Historic Cold in Washington, D.C. ?

Photo Credit: Paul Laudicina

Almost 100 years have passed since Washington, D.C.’s largest snowstorm on record, “The Knickerbocker Storm” of January 28, 1922.  However, snow is a secondary part of the weather forecast as a blast of arctic air will arrive tomorrow evening.  My colleagues and I on the WUSA9 Weather team are watching the arrival of what is shaping up to be the coldest weather in the Nation’s Capital in more than five years.  While record lows aren’t expected downtown, areas like Dulles Airport could challenge records.

Weather records in Washington, D.C. date back to 1871.  As recently as the early 1940s when National Airport opened, the DC Metro Area was very rural.  Once you got outside of the District of Columbia, you were in the countryside.  There has been rapid development and urbanization since then which has contributed to a more pronounced urban heat island effect. There has been only one record low temperature in Washington, D.C. between December 1 and February 28 in the last 25 years.  On the other hand, less urban areas like Dulles Airport have set multiple record lows during that time span.

This week’s arctic outbreak, while relatively short-lived, will be a memorable one.  On Thursday morning Chicago, Illinois could break its record for all-time lowest temperature of -27° (that occurred on January 20, 1985).  Chicago can also set a new record for coldest “high” temperature on Wednesday.  At Chicago’s O’Hare airport, the current record for coldest “high” temperature is -11° (that occurred twice previously on January 18, 1994 and December 24, 1983).

Meanwhile, Washington, D.C. hasn’t been below 0° since January 19, 1994 (-4°).  That was also the last time Washingtonians experienced a “high” temperature of less than 10°.  Those were the last record lows in the Nation’s Capital in the month of January.  High temperatures in the Nation’s Capital on Thursday, January 31 could remain below 20°.  If that were to happen, it would be the first time since January 22, 2014 (19°).  The extreme cold will be relatively short-lived in Washington, D.C. with high temperatures expected to remain at or below freezing on only three consecutive days (Wednesday – Friday).

Record Low / Record Low High (Source: National Weather Service)

January 30

Washington, D.C., National Airport (DCA): -6° (1873) / 16° (1934)
Dulles Airport, Sterling, VA (IAD): 2° (1965) / 12° (1966)
Baltimore, MD (BWI Airport): -4° (1873) / 16° (1966)


January 31

DCA: -2° (1905) / 22° (1936)
IAD: -7° (1965) / 26° (2004, 1965)
BWI: 4° (1966, 1965) / 22° (1948)

Last time High Temperature <20°

DCA: 19° (January 22, 2014)
IAD: 19° (January 6, 2018)
BWI: 18° (January 6, 2018)

Last time High Temperature <10°

DCA: 8° (January 19, 1994)
IAD: 6° (January 19, 1994)
BWI: 5° (January 19, 1994)

Last time Low temperature </=5°

DCA: 5° (February 20, 2015)
IAD: -1° (January 7, 2018)
BWI: 1° (January 7, 2018)

Last time Low Temperature <0°

DCA: -4° (January 19, 1994)
IAD: -1° (January 7, 2018)
BWI: -1° (February 5, 1996)

Last time 3/+ days of temperatures </=32°

DCA: January 4 – 7, 2018 (4 consecutive days)
IAD: December 27, 2017 – January 7, 2018 (12 consecutive days)
BWI: December 31, 2017 – January 7, 2018 (8 consecutive days)