2021 Gets Underway

 

December 2020 appropriately ended with rain showers in parts of the DC Metro Area.  Last month finished 1.7° warmer than average and nearly 2” wetter than average in Washington, D.C.  That helped make 2020 DC’s seventh wettest year on record. 

January is traditionally the coldest month of the year in the DC Metro Area and also one of the snowiest.  DC’s average high/low temperatures this month are 44°/29° on January 1.  However, during an 11-day stretch from January 12 – 23, DC has a daily average of 43°/28° - the coldest of the year.  DC’s warmest January temperature on record is 79° from January 26, 1950.  Meanwhile, DC’s coldest January temperature remains -14° on January 1, 1881. 

The winters have been getting warmer in recent decades as the DC Metro Area has gotten more developed.  No record lows have occurred in Washington, D.C. during the month of January since 1994.  In fact, January 19, 1994 was the last time the Nation’s Capital had a below zero temperature (-4°).  It was also the last time there was a high temperature in the single digits (8°).  January 2020 was DC’s 12^th warmest on record with an average monthly temperature (combining daily high and low temperatures) of 42.4°.

Washingtonians average 2.81” of rain in January, along with 5.6” of snow.  It’s remarkable that 16 of the last 20 January’s have been drier than average in the Nation’s Capital.  In fact, 13 of the last 20 January’s have had below average snowfall.  However, there have been some exceptions.   For example, most Washingtonians will remember the record January 2016 blizzard that tied for DC’s fourth largest snowfall on record.  It also helped make January 2016 DC’s eighth snowiest on record. 

January 2014 was also nearly 4° colder than average in the Nation’s Capital, but didn’t even rank among DC’s 20 coldest.  It was also a snowier than average January.  But, January doesn’t necessarily have to be colder than average to be snowier than average.  January 2005, for example, was a snowier than average month in the Nation’s Capital with 6.4” of snow, but it also finished 0.1° warmer than average. 

NOAA expects this month to be warmer and wetter than average in the DC Metro Area.  However, winter weather enthusiasts shouldn’t fret because the right ingredients only need to come together once to create a significant winter storm.