Meteorological spring gets underway

 

NOAA's March 2026 temperature outlook

Last month was DC’s coldest February since 2015. It also featured below average snowfall for the tenth time in the last 11 years. Meteorological spring officially gets underway today and continues through the end of May. 

Average daily high/low temperatures rise dramatically this month from 52°/35° on March 1 to 62°/43° on March 31. There has been a near 50/50 split of warmer and colder than average March’s over the last 20 years. However, the last six have each been warmer than average. DC’s warmest March temperature on record is 93° on March 23, 1907. By comparison, the coldest March temperature in the nation’s capital remains 4° on March 4, 1873.

Despite the warming March temperatures and increasing sun angle, accumulating snowfall can still occur. As recently as 2018, Washington, D.C. saw 4.1” of snow on March 21. March has been DC’s snowiest month of the year four times since 2010. March is the only month of the year DC’s snowfall average has increased in the last 10 years  (having risen from 1.3” to 2.0”), according to NOAA. 

By comparison, March has also been a drier than average month 13 times over the last two decades. DC residents average 3.5” of March rainfall (that includes the liquid equivalent of melted snowfall). Precipitation is important in March as it sets the stage for the start of the growing season.

Unseasonal warmth during January and February can sometimes be followed by unusually cold March weather. A good example of this occurred in February 2017 which finished as DC's warmest on record, but was followed by a colder than average March. That was significant because DC’s famous cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin were on track for an earlier than average peak bloom. However, March 2017 had eight consecutive days with lows that were below freezing in the middle of the month. That caused widespread damage to the buds that had developed early.

The world-famous cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin are one of DC's signature springtime attractions. NOAA’s March outlook is for warmer than average temperatures in the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) with an equal chance of near average precipitation. The National Park Service will factor that into its initial forecast for peak bloom of the cherry blossoms when it is released on March 5.