Frightful Halloween Weather in the Nation’s Capital ?

 

D.C. Area residents had a treat this Halloween afternoon with mostly sunny skies, breezy conditions and seasonally mild temperatures.  That may lead some to wonder what Halloween weather has historically been like in the Nation’s Capital.  For example, Halloween 2019 couldn’t have been more different than last Halloween with a high/low of 77°/53°.  It was also a wet Halloween two years ago with 1.25” of rain at National Airport.  By comparison, October 31, 2020, was unusually chilly with a high/low of only 51°/41°.

D.C.’s average high/low temperatures on October 31 are 64°/46°.  That’s compared to DC’s record October 31 high of 85° in 1950.  Meanwhile, today’s record low is 26°, which last occurred in 1917.  Since 2000, DC has had measurable rainfall on only three Halloweens: 2019, 2009 and 2002.  The warmest Halloween in recent times was in 2004 when the high/low temperatures were 79°/59°, respectively, at National Airport.  Meanwhile, DC’s chilliest Halloween in recent decades occurred in 2002, with high/low temperatures of only 47°/38°.  

As a whole, October 2021 has been a memorable weather month.  Exceedingly dry with only 0.42” of rain through October 24, this October was poised to finish among D.C.’s top 10 driest on record.  However, an exceptionally wet final week of the month helped give Washingtonians an October rainfall total of 3.27”.  Although that’s below the October average of 3.66”, it helps this month finish much closer to average rather than ranking among D.C.’s driest.

It’s also been a very warm October with only three cooler than average days in the Nation’s Capital during the entire month.  October 2021 will finish with eight days of high temperatures in the 80s.  That’s tied with October 2018 for the highest such total in the last decade.  With a monthly average temperature (combining daily high/low temperatures) of 66.5° through October 30, this October will finish as D.C.’s second warmest on record.  That will give Washingtonians three of the Top 10 warmest Octobers in the last five years.

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

1.  67.1° (2007)
2.  65.2° (1984)
3.  64.9° (2017)
4.  64.7° (1971)
5.  64.5° (1947)
6.  64.4° (1941)
7.  64.1° (2019)
8.  63.4° (1949)
9.  63.3° (1973)
10.  63.2° (1975, 1919)
12.  63.1° (2016)