October gets underway

 

An early October day in Washington, D.C.

September 2025 finished as a slightly cooler and drier than average month in the nation’s capital. Despite rainfall on 11 of the final 15 days of September, last month was a drier than average September for the fourth consecutive year.

October is the second of three months of meteorological fall and often features some of the finest weather of the year with mild days and cool, crisp nights. Average daily high/low temperatures in the nation’s capital range from 75°/58° on October 1 to 64°/46° on Halloween.  

DC’s warmest October temperature on record of 98° occurred relatively recently on October 2, 2019. Eight of the last 10 Octobers have been warmer than average in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, DC’s coolest October temperature of 26° has occurred twice, most recently on October 31, 1917. Temperatures at or below freezing in October are quite rare in the nation’s capital with none since October 20, 1992 (32°).

The nation’s capital averages 3.66” of October rainfall. However, eight of the last 10 October’s having been drier than average. Weakening tropical systems can sometimes impact the D.C. Metropolitan Area in October with heavy rain and severe weather. Such was the case with the remnants of Hurricane Opal in 1995 and post-Tropical Storm Sandy in 2012. The remnants of Tropical Storm Tammy also contributed to making October 2005 the wettest on record in the nation’s capital.

Washingtonians can get an early taste of winter with light October snowfall on occasion. Although the nation’s capital doesn’t see enough October snowfall to produce an average amount, a trace of snow (too little to measure) does occasionally occur, with the most recent being in 2011. The earliest in the fall season the nation’s capital has experienced accumulating snowfall was on October 10, 1979, with 0.3” at National Airport.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center expects October 2025 to be a warmer than average month with near average rainfall in the nation’s capital. That would be in contrast to last October that was much drier than average.