 |
| An April day in suburban Washington, D.C. |
March 2026 finished tied for DC’s eighth warmest on record. It was also the sixth of DC’s Top 10 warmest March’s to occur in the last 15 years. Last month also finished as a drier than average March for the eighth time in the last decade.
April is a dynamic weather month in the nation’s capital that can sometimes feature chilly March-like weather. However, summer-like warmth can also occur such as today’s highs in the low to mid 80s. Average daily high/low temperatures in the nation’s capital range from 62°/43° on April 1 to 73°/53° by April 30.
DC’s hottest April temperature of 95° occurred most recently on April 17, 2002. That’s compared to DC’s coldest April temperature of 15° on April 1, 1923. Weather records in the nation’s capital date back to 1871.
The month of April has been warmer than average 12 times in the nation’s capital over the last two decades. April 2017 and April 2019 were DC’s warmest and second warmest on record. Sandwiched in between was April 2018 that finished as DC’s coolest since 1997. That helps illustrate how changeable DC’s spring weather can be from one year to the next.
Washington, D.C. averages 3.21” of April rainfall, according to NOAA. The nation’s capital has seen a high degree of variability in April rainfall in recent years. While April 2020 ranks among DC’s wettest, the last two April’s were both drier than average.
While showers and thunderstorms become more common as spring wears on, they can occur at any point in April. Scattered showers and storms are expected later today and tonight across the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia). However, it isn’t expected to be as large a severe weather event as on April 6, 2017, when two tornadoes touched down within DC city limits. Meanwhile, the latest in the spring that measurable snowfall has occurred in the nation’s capital was April 28, 1898 (0.5”).
NOAA's Climate Prediction Center expects this month to finish with above average temperatures and near average rainfall in the DMV. That would be similar to last April that finished as DC’s sixth warmest on record. Even average rainfall this month would be beneficial given how dry it’s been over the last year. Nine of the last 12 months have been drier than average in Washington, D.C. That’s led to moderate drought conditions for much of the DMV.
