DC’s coldest winter in over 20 years

 

A frigid winter's day in the DMV

If this winter has felt particularly cold in the nation’s capital, then it’s with good reason. The 2025-2026 winter season is well-positioned to finish as DC’s coldest in decades. Despite the colder than average temperatures, it will finish with below average snowfall.

February got off to a frigid start in the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) with below average temperatures on 12 of the first 13 days. The first week of February was so cold that DC’s average monthly temperature (combining daily high/low temperatures) on February 9 was more than 12° below average. Although several days this week have featured above average temperatures, this month has still been 6° colder than average.

January 2026 finished 4.2° colder than average and was DC’s coldest since 2014. The final eight days of the month remained below freezing. Last month also finished with 7” of snow, making it DC’s third consecutive snowier than average (4.9”) January. The last time the nation’s capital experienced three consecutive snowier than average January’s was back in the 1960s.

December 2025 was also frigid and finished 4.4° colder than average. It was the coldest December in the nation’s capital since 2010. It was also a drier than average month with below average snowfall.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center expects above average temperatures in late-February and early-March. Given how frosty the first half of February was, it would take near record-setting warmth to push monthly temperatures significantly closer to average. Temperatures like that aren’t on the horizon. That said, the potential exists for February 2026 to finish at least four degrees colder than average in the nation’s capital.

Although some months in the last 20 years have been colder than the corresponding months this winter, what makes this winter stand out is how all three months have been so cold. In fact, DC hasn’t had the three-month period (December, January and February) that comprises “meteorological winter” finish at least four degrees below average since 2002-2003. That means this winter could finish as DC’s coldest in 23 years.

Weather Quiz

 

Memorable winter weather in suburban Washington, D.C.

True or False.

More of DC's Top 10 snow events have occurred in February than in any other month.

DC’s powerful February snow events

 

Record snowfall in suburban Washington, D.C.

This winter has provided winter weather enthusiasts with a lot to be happy about across the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia). However, as in nine of the last 10 February’s, this February is well-positioned to finish with below average snowfall. That’s despite February being the snowiest month of the year in the nation’s capital, based on NOAA averages. In fact, six of DC’s 10 largest winter storms have occurred in February with “Snowmageddon” being the most recent in 2010. Here are some of the others. 

2003: This Presidents Day storm was the signature weather event of the 2002-2003 winter season. With 16.4” of snow officially at National Airport (DCA) from February 16-18, this storm remains tied for DC’s eighth largest on record. Snow totals of greater than 20” were common west and north of downtown, including 26.8” at BWI Airport and 21.7” at Dulles Airport.

1983: A total of 16.6” accumulated at National Airport during a storm from February 10-11. It remains DC’s seventh largest snowstorm. By coincidence, both Dulles and BWI Airports saw 22.8” of snow during this storm and it ranks in the Top 10 at both locations. The 1982-1983 winter season was an El Nino winter and this storm illustrated how many of DC’s largest winter storms occur during El Nino winters.

1979: A total of 30.6” of snow fell at National Airport, with the majority during an epic February 18-19 winter storm. Its 18.7” of snow paralyzed the DMV and remains DC’s third largest snowstorm. This storm is also significant because it ranks as the largest snowfall at National Airport since it opened in 1941. DC’s two largest snowstorms occurred in January 1922 and February 1899, respectively, before National Airport opened. It was also a Top 10 snowfall at Dulles and BWI Airports. February 1979 remains one of only four months that the nation’s capital has gotten at least 30.0” of snow.

February 1899: 35.2”
January 1922: 31.5”
February 1979: 30.6”
February 2010: 32.1”

1899: This remains the snowiest February on record in Washington, D.C., with a monthly total of 35.2”. That can be largely attributed to DC’s second largest snowstorm (20.0”) that occurred from February 12-14.