Cold waves: past and present

 

Unusual January cold in Bethesda, Maryland

Today will be the sixth consecutive day with subfreezing temperatures in the nation’s capital. This event will likely end up as a nine or potentially ten-day stretch. A 10-day stretch would tie DC’s fifth longest subfreezing stretch on record. It would also be the longest since the 10-day stretch in December 1989.

DC’s average daily low temperature during the current six-day stretch of subfreezing temperatures is 14.5°. That pales in comparison to the 10-day stretch in December 1989 when the average daily low temperature was 12.4° and included lows in the single digits on December 22 and December 23.

Single-digit temperatures have become a rarity in the nation’s capital this century with only five such occurrences during the month of January, and none since 2018. Dating back to 2000, single-digit temperatures have only occurred once each in December (2022) and in February (2015). DC’s coldest temperature this century of 5° occurred on February 20, 2015.

Although February 2015 finished as DC’s coldest month of the century, it was an anomalously cold month with several shorter, but more intense stretches of cold compared to this week. For example, DC’s average daily low temperature from February 13 – February 21, 2015, was 13°. DC’s lack of long-duration periods of subfreezing cold in recent decades have contributed to making our current stretch feel particularly cold.

High temperatures on Monday, February 2, will reach the low 30s and could become DC’s first above freezing day since January 23. Perhaps ironically that will also be Groundhog Day.