DC residents shiver through the coldest winter in decades

 

A cold winter for the DMV

The 2025-2026 meteorological winter finished as DC’s coldest in 23 years. The unofficial start to spring got underway on March 1. Meteorologists use three-month increments to measure the four seasons, so “winter” spans from December 1 – February 28. That differs from the astronomical seasons that are based on the solstices and equinoxes.

Some impressive weather benchmarks occurred this winter.  Not only was it DC’s first since 2009-2010 that all three months (December, January and February) were colder than average, but with an average temperature of 35.6°, it was DC’s coldest winter since 2002-2003 (34.0°).

The winter got off to a frigid start as December 2025 finished 4.4° colder than average. That made it DC’s coldest December since 2010. Despite 1.5” of December snowfall, the nation’s capital hasn’t had a snowier than average December since 2017.

Next, 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. January also finished with 7” of snow, making it DC’s third consecutive snowier than average (4.9”) January. The nation’s capital hasn’t experienced three consecutive snowier than average January’s since the 1960s.

February was 3.8° colder than average and was DC’s coldest since 2015. Seven of the first nine days of last month were at least 10° below average. Last month was DC’s tenth February in the last 11 years with below average snowfall. That’s despite February traditionally being the snowiest month of the year in the nation’s capital.

The 10.4” of snow since December 1, 2025, will ensure this winter finishes with below average snowfall (13.7”). The combination of this winter being at least four degrees colder than average (35.6° vs. 39.7°) combined with below average snowfall is DC’s first such occurrence since the 1993-1994 winter.

Looking ahead, NOAA’s spring outlook is for near average temperatures and rainfall. That would be a change from recent springs in the nation’s capital. That’s because eight of the last 10 springs have been warmer than average, while seven were also wetter than average. Any rainfall this spring would be beneficial across the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) considering the ongoing moderate drought conditions.