April 2021 Wrap

 

April 2021 will finish as a warmer and drier than average month in the Nation’s Capital, but not a significantly warmer or drier than average April.  The trend is noteworthy because two of the last three April’s have been cooler than average in Washington, D.C.

There has been a wide range in temperatures across the DC Metro Area this month.  Lows have fallen to the 30s on five days, including DC’s low of 31° on April 2.  Having temperatures at or below freezing is relatively rare in the Nation’s Capital during April.  Prior to April 2, the last such occurrence was on April 10, 2016.  Following the colder than average first three days of April, Washingtonians enjoyed 11 consecutive warmer than average days.  That helped April’s unusually cold start fade from memory.

DC Area residents enjoyed three consecutive days with highs in the 80s from April 27 – April 29.  DC’s high temperature of 88° on April 28 was the warmest April temperature in the Nation’s Capital since April 30, 2017 (also 88°).  The last time it was warmer than 88° was on April 29, 2017 (91°).  That was also DC’s last 90° temperature during the month of April.  Dulles Airport was also 88° on April 28 which tied its record high for the date. 

While not record-setting for the Nation’s Capital itself, Wednesday’s high of 88° was exceedingly unusual since it isn’t DC’s average high temperature for another two months until June 29.  Today will be a much cooler day with highs in the low 70s.

There have been 10 days with measurable rainfall since April 1, for a monthly total of 2.20”.  That’s below DC’s monthly average of 3.06” and illustrates that while rainfall was frequent, none was particularly heavy.  That’s unlike last April that had two days with more than an inch of rain and finished as DC’s seventh wettest on record with 6.30”. 

Being the second of three months that make up “meteorological” spring, April doesn’t usually stand out as much as March or May.  March has featured some memorable winter weather events in the Nation’s Capital, while May has featured some significant heat waves and severe weather events.  While April’s weather isn’t as extreme as March or May weather can be, there have been some notable extremes such as DC’s latest accumulating snowfall on record of 0.5” on April 28, 1898.  Also, longtime Washingtonians may recall the heat wave that occurred from April 16 – 18, 2002.