Happy Groundhog Day

 

NOAA's February temperature outlook

January 2026 was a frigid month in the nation’s capital and finished more than 4° colder than average. Fortunately, high temperatures today are well-positioned to climb above freezing for the first time since January 23. That would bring an end to DC’s stretch of nine consecutive days at or below freezing, the longest such stretch in the nation’s capital since 1989, according to the National Weather Service.

February is the third and final month of “meteorological” winter. February is DC’s snowiest month of the year, on average, with 5.0”. Six of DC’s 10 largest snow events have occurred in February with the most recent being “Snowmageddon” in February 2010. However, February’s have not been particularly snowy for Washingtonians in recent years. For example, last February finished as DC’s first snowier than average February since 2015.

February is also the driest month of the year in Washington, D.C. with a monthly rainfall average of only 2.62”. That’s not good news for the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) which has experienced below average rainfall in eight of the last 12 months. Consequently, moderate to severe drought conditions have developed across the entire DMV.

According to National Weather Service data, DC’s average daily high/low temperatures range from 46°/30° on February 1 to 52°/34° on February 28. Eight of the last nine February’s were warmer than average in the nation’s capital. DC’s coldest February temperature occurred on February 11, 1889 (-15°). By comparison, DC’s warmest overall February temperature was 84° (February 25, 1930).

NOAA's Climate Prediction Center expects this February to feature colder than average temperatures with an equal chance for above or below normal precipitation in the nation's capital. However, even with a drier than average pattern, the right ingredients need to come together only once to produce a significant winter storm. Meanwhile, average daily temperatures and the amount of daylight both increase as the month of February wears on.