August is the Final Official Month of the 2022 Summer

 

 

July 2022 was a rainy month in the Nation’s Capital with near average temperatures.  It could be broken up into two distinct halves with rain on 11 of the first 17 days.  Also, only five of the first 17 days of July were warmer than average.  However, 11 days were warmer than average with 6 days of rain in the Nation’s Capital over the final two weeks of July.  Overall, 7.61” of rain occurred compared to D.C.’s July average of 4.33”, while July’s average monthly temperature was 0.1° warmer than average.  D.C.’s warmest July temperature was 96° on July 23, while last month’s coolest temperature was 66° on July 11.

August is D.C.’s second hottest month of the year on average behind July.  Average daily high/low temperatures in Washington, D.C. range from 89°/72° on August 1 to 86°/69° on August 31.  D.C.’s hottest August temperature was 106° on August 6, 1918, which tied for D.C.’s hottest overall temperature.  Meanwhile, the coolest August temperature in the Nation’s Capital of 49° has occurred three times, most recently on August 29, 1986.

On rare occasions, August is the warmest month of the summer.  There have been five such instances over the last 20 years, most recently in 2018.  August 2016 was the last time triple-digit heat occurred in the Nation’s Capital.

August is one of the drier months of the year in Washington, D.C. with NOAA’s updated rainfall average of 3.25”.  In an average year, August is wetter than only four other months (January, February, April and November).  Those months see essentially no rainfall from decaying tropical systems and rainfall from thunderstorms is also less likely than in August.  Three of the last 10 August’s were significantly drier than average with less than 2” of rain (2019, 2015, 2013).

August will get off to a warmer than average start in the Nation’s Capital with several days of highs in the 90s during the upcoming week.  NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center expects August 2022 to finish as a warmer than average month in the Nation’s Capital with above average rainfall.  Every August since 2018 has also been warmer than average in the Nation’s Capital.