DC’s surprising February weather

 

A mild late-February day out at Great Falls (Maryland).

Despite the quiet weather in the nation’s capital on the final day of February, this month has featured no shortage of memorable weather. Not only will it finish as a snowier than average month, but it’s also featured unusually cold weather combined with very windy days. 

Although DC didn’t set any temperature or precipitation records, some significant February weather benchmarks occurred. For example, a total of 6.4” of snow fell at National Airport on February 11-12. That was DC’s largest February snowstorm since 7.0” occurred on February 12-13, 2014. DC’s monthly snowfall total of 6.5” also made this the first snowier than average February since 2015. 

February is the snowiest month of the year, according to NOAA, with a monthly average of 5.0”. In addition to being a snowier than average month, February 2025 is also a wetter than average month. February finished with 2.84” of rain (0.2” above average). Rainfall includes the liquid equivalent of melted snowfall.

Temperatures remained at or below freezing on February 19 and 20 with highs of only 27° and 32°, respectively. That made for DC’s coldest two-consecutive February days in more than nine years since February 14-15, 2016, when highs at Reagan National Airport were 26° and 31°.

The majority of February was quite cold with below average temperatures on 14 of the first 23 days. However, milder than average weather the past few days helped February finish as a warmer than average month. Having a warmer and snowier than average February is an unusual occurrence and hasn’t happened in the nation’s capital since 1975. It has also been a very windy month with wind gusts of at least 40 mph on six days. Wind gusts of 64 mph and 60 mph were reported in the nation’s capital on February 16 and February 17.

This month will finish nearly a full degree warmer than average, continuing an important trend in the nation’s capital. Seven of the past eight February’s have been warmer than average.

However, the prolonged stretches of cold weather in January and February are expected to delay the peak bloom of DC’s famous cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin. The last two winters were milder than average and peak bloom was declared by the National Park Service on March 17 last year and on March 23 in 2023. Earlier this week the National Park Service issued its first forecast for when peak bloom will occur this year and expects March 28 – 31 to be the key dates.

Weather Quiz

 

A mild late-February day in Montgomery County, Maryland

February 2025 will finish as a warmer and snowier than average month in the nation’s capital.  Prior to this month, when was the last such occurrence?

A. 1975

B. 1983

C. 1996

D. 2010

Threat of February severe weather

 

Severe weather reports, February 15, 2025 (Source: NOAA)

 “Severe weather” is defined as a thunderstorm that contains any of the following: hail 1” in diameter or larger; wind gusts of 58 mph or greater; or a tornado. Severe weather is less common in the United States during the colder winter months than it is during the rest of the year.

When severe weather does occur in February, it can most often be found on or near the Gulf Coast. That’s because weather conditions are more favorable for it there than other parts of the country. Nevertheless, some February outbreaks have occurred in other parts of the United States, making them very unusual.

2025: A severe weather outbreak earlier this month occurred in an area where severe weather is more common in February. On February 15-16, nearly 400 severe weather reports were reported to NOAA across the Deep South to parts of the Mid-Atlantic Region. The predominant type of severe weather during this outbreak were severe wind gusts with over 350 reports. The strongest wind gusts were 84 mph on February 15 at the Northwest Alabama Regional Airport and 74 mph at Canaan Heights, West Virginia on February 16.

2024:  A two-day severe weather outbreak occurred last February 27-28 across parts of the Great Lakes Region and Ohio Valley. A total of 34 tornadoes were reported as part of a larger outbreak with over 300 total severe reports. The tornadoes on February 27 were concentrated in suburban Chicago, Illinois, with several EF-0 and EF-1 tornadoes and in central Ohio where tornadoes reached EF-2 intensity. Those were followed by an EF-2 tornado in south central New York near the Pennsylvania border on February 28 and a 75 mph wind gust near the Tennessee town of Alcoa. 

2020:  A rare severe weather outbreak occurred on February 7 in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The National Weather Service confirmed that five tornadoes touched down between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. in the DC Metro Area. Maryland, Virginia and DC don’t typically see tornadoes during the month of February.  

An EF-0 occurred in Leesburg, Virginia and had winds of 85 mph. It was on the ground for three minutes with a track of 3.3 miles. According to National Weather Service records, this tornado set a record for earliest in the year a tornado occurred in Loudoun County. There also was an EF-1 in Montgomery County, Maryland, near the town of Dickerson that had wind speeds of 95 mph and a track of a mile. Two more EF-1 tornadoes occurred: one each in Frederick and Carroll counties.

2016:  Another large severe weather outbreak occurred on February 24. More than 30 tornadoes touched down between Pennsylvania and Florida. There were three confirmed fatalities due to an EF-1 tornado in Sussex County, Virginia. An EF-2 tornado with 125 mph winds also occurred in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. That followed nearly 70 tornadoes that developed on February 23 along the U.S. Gulf Coast, which caused a total of six fatalities.