Our region's extreme run

[MN Transplant]

40 minutes ago, RodneyS said:

December 2021 at DCA could not match December 2015's average of 51.2 degrees, but it was the second warmest December in DC history at 47.6 degrees -- 3.6 degrees cooler, but 2.0 degree warmer than the December record holders prior to 2015, which were December 1889 and 1984 (45.6).  That also makes December 2021 the fourth warmest meteorological winter month in DC history, behind only December 2015, January 1950 (48.0), and February 2017 (47.7).

I knew it was bad, but that is really bad.

[RodneyS]

16 hours ago, MN Transplant said:

I knew it was bad, but that is really bad.

Another interesting fact about December 2021 is that there were only 0.63 inches of precipitation at DCA -- the 6th driest December in DC history, with 1889 the driest at 0.19 inches. (1901 was the wettest December in DC at 7.56 inches).  Moreover, November and December 2021 combined totaled only 1.61 inches at DCA -- the 2nd driest November-December in DC history, with 1965 the driest November-December at 0.84 inches. (2018 was the wettest November-December in DC at 13.39 inches, and was also the wettest year overall, at 66.28 inches).  However, unlike 1965, which was the second driest year overall in DC at 26.94 inches (1930 was the driest, at 21.66), 2021 was relatively wet overall, at 44.09 inches (tied with 1912 for 47th wettest out of 151 years).

[WinterFire]

Despite having gone from 28 to 30 (??) between 6-7pm, the forecast minimum at DCA tonight is 18, which would be the coldest since Feb 2, 2019. Can we get there???
 

Still waiting on true Arctic air for a sub-30 degree high temp. Last sub-30 day at DCA: Feb 1, 2019, but I’m hopeful we will see that in the next couple weeks. (As a side note, we’re still waiting on the first sub-40 high temp at DCA, but that seems pretty given for tomorrow)

[RodneyS]

On 1/3/2022 at 7:30 PM, WinterFire said:

Despite having gone from 28 to 30 (??) between 6-7pm, the forecast minimum at DCA tonight is 18, which would be the coldest since Feb 2, 2019. Can we get there???
 

Still waiting on true Arctic air for a sub-30 degree high temp. Last sub-30 day at DCA: Feb 1, 2019, but I’m hopeful we will see that in the next couple weeks. (As a side note, we’re still waiting on the first sub-40 high temp at DCA, but that seems pretty given for tomorrow)

Today's average temperature of 26 at DCA (high of 30, low of 22) was the lowest since February 1, 2019's average of 22 (high of 24, low of 20).  The 30 degree high was also the lowest since Feb 1, 2019's high of 24. 

[RodneyS]

On 1/11/2022 at 6:42 PM, RodneyS said:

Today's average temperature of 26 at DCA (high of 30, low of 22) was the lowest since February 1, 2019's average of 22 (high of 24, low of 20).  The 30 degree high was also the lowest since Feb 1, 2019's high of 24. 

The temperature this morning at DCA made it down to 17 degrees, the lowest there since the 10 degree low of January 31, 2019.

[peribonca]

Anyone with end of month data for January? Definitely felt chilly!

[MN Transplant]

16 hours ago, peribonca said:

Anyone with end of month data for January? Definitely felt chilly!

The Feb obs thread has it.  It was chilly, and the numbers would be more impressive if you took out Jan 1-2 which were way above normal.

[RodneyS]

12 hours ago, MN Transplant said:

The Feb obs thread has it.  It was chilly, and the numbers would be more impressive if you took out Jan 1-2 which were way above normal.

January 2022 at DCA averaged 34.6 degrees, which was 2.9 degrees below the new 1991-2020 normal and 0.7 degrees below the 1871-2022 DC historical January average.  It was also the coldest month at DCA since February 2015, which averaged only 30.3 degrees.  Perhaps the most unusual aspect ot January 2022 at DCA was that the temperature there was 13.0 degrees below December 2021 -- the 5th largest decline in DC history for those two months, with December 2015 to January 2016 being the largest, at 16.3 degrees.

[RodneyS]

I just posted this on the Capital Weather Gang page:

Yesterday, DCA recorded the largest decline in daily high temperature this century.  The high on Wednesday was 77, but it plummeted to 42 yesterday, for a decline of 35 degrees.  That was the largest since December 23, 1998, when the high temperature declined by 39 degrees -- from 67 on December 22nd to 28 on December 23rd.  The largest daily high temperature decline in DC history occurred on March 19, 1934, when the decline was 41 degrees -- from 78 on March 18th to 37 on March 19th.

Also, yesterday's decline in daily average temperature of 22 degrees at DCA -- from 59.5 on Wednesday to 37.5 yesterday -- was the largest since February 9, 2017, when average temperature declined by 23.5 degrees -- from 62.5 on February 8th to 39 on February 9th.  The largest daily average temperature decline in DC history occurred on January 29, 1934, when the decline was 28 degrees -- from 49.5 on January 28th to 21.5 on January 29th.

 

[MN Transplant]

3 hours ago, RodneyS said:

I just posted this on the Capital Weather Gang page:

Yesterday, DCA recorded the largest decline in daily high temperature this century.  The high on Wednesday was 77, but it plummeted to 42 yesterday, for a decline of 35 degrees.  That was the largest since December 23, 1998, when the high temperature declined by 39 degrees -- from 67 on December 22nd to 28 on December 23rd.  The largest daily high temperature decline in DC history occurred on March 19, 1934, when the decline was 41 degrees -- from 78 on March 18th to 37 on March 19th.

Also, yesterday's decline in daily average temperature of 22 degrees at DCA -- from 59.5 on Wednesday to 37.5 yesterday -- was the largest since February 9, 2017, when average temperature declined by 23.5 degrees -- from 62.5 on February 8th to 39 on February 9th.  The largest daily average temperature decline in DC history occurred on January 29, 1934, when the decline was 28 degrees -- from 49.5 on January 28th to 21.5 on January 29th.

 

Good stuff, Rodney.

[RodneyS]

4 hours ago, MN Transplant said:

Good stuff, Rodney.

Thanks.  In doing the search for largest daily average temperature declines, I found some inconsistencies in the data. At first, I thought the largest decline occurred on January 13, 1895, as the average temperature that day is listed as 9.0 degrees, with January 12, 1895 listed as 37.5 degrees.  However, I then saw that the listed range on the 12th is 27 to 48, whereas the listed range on the 13th is 4 to 14.  So, presumably what happened is that the Weather Bureau employee was at his station for a good portion of the day on the 12th, but left well before midnight with the temperature falling.  By midnight, it may have been say, 20, but no one was there to record it.  By the time he arrived on the 13th, the temperature was between 4 and 14, and so that's what he recorded, but the true range on the 12th would have been 20 to 48 (average 34), and the true range on the 13th would have been 4 to 20 (average of 12), and so the actual decline would have been only 22 degrees.  I'm not sure when an automated temperature recorder was used in DC, but I believe all those anomalies occur prior to 1900.    

[MN Transplant]

3 hours ago, RodneyS said:

Thanks.  In doing the search for largest daily average temperature declines, I found some inconsistencies in the data. At first, I thought the largest decline occurred on January 13, 1895, as the average temperature that day is listed as 9.0 degrees, with January 12, 1895 listed as 37.5 degrees.  However, I then saw that the listed range on the 12th is 27 to 48, whereas the listed range on the 13th is 4 to 14.  So, presumably what happened is that the Weather Bureau employee was at his station for a good portion of the day on the 12th, but left well before midnight with the temperature falling.  By midnight, it may have been say, 20, but no one was there to record it.  By the time he arrived on the 13th, the temperature was between 4 and 14, and so that's what he recorded, but the true range on the 12th would have been 20 to 48 (average 34), and the true range on the 13th would have been 4 to 20 (average of 12), and so the actual decline would have been only 22 degrees.  I'm not sure when an automated temperature recorder was used in DC, but I believe all those anomalies occur prior to 1900.    

Yeah, that is clearly an error.  Nice find.

[RodneyS]

On 3/31/2014 at 8:58 PM, RodneyS said:

It may have occurred to most in this area that March 2014 was a rather up and down month.  How up and down?  Since official daily temperature records began in DC in January 1872, there have now been a total of 1707 months recorded, listing the minimum and maximum temperature for each day of each month. According to my figures, with respect to the average daily change in maximum temperature, March 2014 month was -- drum roll, please --  number one!  That's correct, with an average daily change in the maximum temperature of 12.4 degrees at DCA, March 2014 displaced long-time record-holder February 1900 (12.1).  Also, with respect to the average daily change in the mean temperature, March 2014 was number three, at 9.1 degree.  January 1916 remains the record-holder in that category, at 9.34 degrees, narrowly edging January 1950, at 9.32 degrees.  Here are the top five months in each category: 

 

Average Daily Change in Maximum Temperature

March 2014, 12.4

February 1900, 12.1

March 1934, 11.9

March 1923, 11.71

February 1918, 11.68

 

Average Daily Change in Mean Temperature

January 1916, 9.34
January 1950, 9.32
March 2014, 9.1
Febuary 1900, 8.8
March 1938, 8.7

 

February 2022 at DCA did not come close to matching March 2014 in either of the above categories, but did manage to tie for 20th in official DC weather history in the first one, with 1802 months now in the books.  That's still quite impressive, especially since it's the second highest in the last 35 years.  You wil note that all of these months are in either January (4), February (6), March (8), or April (3):

Highest Average Daily Change in Maximum Temperature
March 2014, 12.42 

February 1900, 12.11 

March 1934, 11.94 

March 1923, 11.71 

March 1911, 11.58

January 1950, 11.32

March 1935, 11.29

February 1893, 11.04

February 1917, 10.96

March 1907, 10.90

February 1918, 10.89

March 1987, 10.87

April 1965, 10.83

April 1926, 10.77

January 1937, 10.74

March 1890, 10.74

April 1936, 10.70

January 1885, 10.65

January 1890, 10.65

February 1883 10.64

February 2022, 10.64

[RodneyS]

I just posted this on the Capital Weather Gang page: 

 

I think the most interesting fact about this storm is that it produced the first consecutive days with at least an inch of precipitation at Reagan National Airport since July 2018:

 

July 21, 2018: 4.00

July 22, 2018: 1.15

 

May 6, 2022: 1.00

May 7, 2022: 1.29

[RodneyS]

23 hours ago, RodneyS said:

I just posted this on the Capital Weather Gang page: 

 

I think the most interesting fact about this storm is that it produced the first consecutive days with at least an inch of precipitation at Reagan National Airport since July 2018:

 

July 21, 2018: 4.00

July 22, 2018: 1.15

 

May 6, 2022: 1.00

May 7, 2022: 1.29

The rain was followed by the coldest Mother's Day maximum at Reagan since May 14, 1967.  Both this year and 55 years ago, it was 58.

[nw baltimore wx]

4 minutes ago, RodneyS said:

The rain was followed by the coldest Mother's Day maximum at Reagan since May 14, 1967.  Both this year and 55 years ago, it was 58.

Coldest Mother’s Day or coldest May 8th? Or maybe both?

[RodneyS]

2 minutes ago, nw baltimore wx said:

Coldest Mother’s Day or coldest May 8th? Or maybe both?

Mother's Day.  May 8, 2006 reached only 57 at Reagan, but that was on a Monday.  Mother's Day 2006 was on May 14th and reached 63.

[RodneyS]

Today is the rainiest at DCA since September 30, 2010, and is currently the 22nd rainiest day in DC history. It could move up a little further, with some evening rain. Figures are in inches:

 

1) 6.39 August 23, 1933 (Wednesday)

2) 6.14 August 2, 1944 (Wednesday)

3) 6.11 June 21, 1972 (Wednesday)

4) 5.97 August 11, 1928 (Saturday)

5) 5.44 August 12, 1955 (Friday)

6) 5.19 June 25, 2006 (Sunday)

7) 5.16 September 2, 1922 (Saturday)

8) 4.92 August 12, 1898 (Friday)

9) 4.83 August 20, 1963 (Tuesday)

10) 4.76 September 16, 1976 (Thursday)

11) 4.69 July 9, 1970 (Thursday)

12) 4.66 September 30, 2010 (Thursday)

13) 4.49 September 4, 1939 (Monday)

14) 4.45 September 5, 1935 (Thursday)

15) 4.35 July 22, 1969 (Tuesday)

16) 4.25 July 30, 1878 (Tuesday)

17) 4.22 June 26, 2006 (Monday)

18) 4.16 June 22, 1886 (Tuesday)

19) 4.15 September 16, 1874 (Wednesday)

20) 4.12 July 30, 1876 (Sunday)

21) 4.07 September 14, 1966 (Wednesday)

22) 4.05 July 9, 2022 (Saturday)

23) 4.03 August 8, 1942 (Saturday)

24) 4.02 September 12, 1934 (Wednesday)

25) 4.00 July 21, 2018 (Saturday)

[StormchaserChuck!]

Does 02-03 ring a bell. 

[RodneyS]

3 hours ago, StormchaserChuck! said:

Does 02-03 ring a bell. 

Yes, in terms of it being the wettest February on record in DC, at 6.98 inches.  February 2003 also featured the Presidents Day II snow storm, which dropped 16.7 inches of snow at DCA during February 15-18, and a major rainfall event of 2.27 inches there on February 22nd.  

[RodneyS]

October 4th peaked at 55 degrees this afternoon at both DCA and IAD, setting low maximum records for DC and Dulles. 

[RodneyS]

On 7/9/2022 at 7:06 PM, RodneyS said:

Today is the rainiest at DCA since September 30, 2010, and is currently the 22nd rainiest day in DC history. It could move up a little further, with some evening rain. Figures are in inches:

 

1) 6.39 August 23, 1933 (Wednesday)

2) 6.14 August 2, 1944 (Wednesday)

3) 6.11 June 21, 1972 (Wednesday)

4) 5.97 August 11, 1928 (Saturday)

5) 5.44 August 12, 1955 (Friday)

6) 5.19 June 25, 2006 (Sunday)

7) 5.16 September 2, 1922 (Saturday)

8) 4.92 August 12, 1898 (Friday)

9) 4.83 August 20, 1963 (Tuesday)

10) 4.76 September 16, 1976 (Thursday)

11) 4.69 July 9, 1970 (Thursday)

12) 4.66 September 30, 2010 (Thursday)

13) 4.49 September 4, 1939 (Monday)

14) 4.45 September 5, 1935 (Thursday)

15) 4.35 July 22, 1969 (Tuesday)

16) 4.25 July 30, 1878 (Tuesday)

17) 4.22 June 26, 2006 (Monday)

18) 4.16 June 22, 1886 (Tuesday)

19) 4.15 September 16, 1874 (Wednesday)

20) 4.12 July 30, 1876 (Sunday)

21) 4.07 September 14, 1966 (Wednesday)

22) 4.05 July 9, 2022 (Saturday)

23) 4.03 August 8, 1942 (Saturday)

24) 4.02 September 12, 1934 (Wednesday)

25) 4.00 July 21, 2018 (Saturday)

While today's DCA total of 1.88 inches is a long way from any of the above days, it is the wettest winter (astronomical or meteorological) day in exactly four years.  December 15, 2018 established the record for this calendar day with 2.55 inches.

[MN Transplant]

13 hours ago, RodneyS said:

While today's DCA total of 1.88 inches is a long way from any of the above days, it is the wettest winter (astronomical or meteorological) day in exactly four years.  December 15, 2018 established the record for this calendar day with 2.55 inches.

Yesterday I checked in on the records because I figured that we must be close to a daily record, but no such luck.  

 

 

[mattie g]

13 hours ago, RodneyS said:

While today's DCA total of 1.88 inches is a long way from any of the above days, it is the wettest winter (astronomical or meteorological) day in exactly four years.  December 15, 2018 established the record for this calendar day with 2.55 inches.

Them crazy Ninas...

[RodneyS]

I just posted this on the Capital Weather Gang page:

Yesterday's 43-degree temperature range at DCA (55 maximum, 12 minimum) was the widest in exactly 24 years and one day, and tied for the 13th widest in DC history. On December 22, 1998, the mercury plunged from a high of 67 to a low of 24. The widest range ever in DC was March 22, 1907 when the temperature rose from a morning low of 40 to an afternoon high of 90.

[RodneyS]

7 hours ago, RodneyS said:

I just posted this on the Capital Weather Gang page:

Yesterday's 43-degree temperature range at DCA (55 maximum, 12 minimum) was the widest in exactly 24 years and one day, and tied for the 13th widest in DC history. On December 22, 1998, the mercury plunged from a high of 67 to a low of 24. The widest range ever in DC was March 22, 1907 when the temperature rose from a morning low of 40 to an afternoon high of 90.

DCA and IAD have each reached what appears to be their maximum temperatures of 22 degrees for today, which breaks the 1989 Christmas Eve record low maximum of 23 at DCA and ties the 1989 Christmas Eve record low maximum at IAD.

[RodneyS]

After our Christmas weekend freeze, January so far has been a thaw and then some: Today marked the third straight 60+ degree reading at DCA, which had never previously happened in DC weather history to begin the year.

[kgottwald]

The folks at CapitalWeather speculate that we might be on track to beat January 1950 for pure blowtorchness.

[RodneyS]

13 hours ago, RodneyS said:

After our Christmas weekend freeze, January so far has been a thaw and then some: Today marked the third straight 60+ degree reading at DCA, which had never previously happened in DC weather history to begin the year.

Today at DCA marks four straight days with 60+ readings. As I noted yesterday, no calendar year in DC had ever previously begun with even three straight 60+ readings. However, in 1998, after New Year's Day peaked at only 35 at DCA, eight straight days (January 2-9) reached at least 60.

[RodneyS]

On 1/4/2023 at 10:21 AM, RodneyS said:

Today at DCA marks four straight days with 60+ readings. As I noted yesterday, no calendar year in DC had ever previously begun with even three straight 60+ readings. However, in 1998, after New Year's Day peaked at only 35 at DCA, eight straight days (January 2-9) reached at least 60.

The 60+ degree weather streak at DCA to begin the New Year has reached a DC record five days. However, that streak will almost certainly end today, and so will not challenge the more general eight-day January 60+ degree streak that began on January 2, 1998.