Washington, DC Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Washington's primary NOAA station, WASHINGTON REAGAN AP.
The climate verdict for Washington
Washington, District of Columbia has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 59°F. It scores 78/100 for climate comfort (good), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 72% of them.
- 59°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 78/100
- comfort score, above 72% of station-mapped location scores
- 41.8"
- annual precipitation · 14" snow
- 239 days
- frost-free growing season
Washington: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00013743 · Washington, DC 59°F mean · 41.8" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 59°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,009
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Jackson
- PRCP-MID 41.8"
- SWING-MID 44°F
- COMF-TOP 78/100
- LOAD-HEAT 3,769 HDD
- STN-1 USW00013743
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Jackson, TN (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every DC station list.
- Hot Corning, AR 60°F
- Near Madisonville, KY 60°F
- Washington (this station) 59°F
- Near Jackson, TN 59°F
- Near Mt Pleasant, TN 59°F
Climate Living Index · Washington
Washington: 72/100 · grade B
Washington publishes all six Living Index dimensions from NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals · NOAA hourly normals.
PlainClimate-derived for Washington, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 78/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 49 calendar days | 92/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 239 days/year | 84/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 41.8 in · 6.8 from 35 in | 76/100 · B |
| Annual temperature balance | 59.3°F · 8.2° from 67.5°F | 74/100 · B |
| Snowfall burden | 13.7 inches/year | 58/100 · C |
| Summer moisture balance | 65.3°F mean dew point | 34/100 · F |
Washington · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Washington is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 37.5°F and warmest-month mean 81.0°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 81.0°F
- Coldest month
- 37.5°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Washington sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Washington's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 27% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Washington sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 62nd percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 51st percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Washington compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Washington's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
78 Top 28% score exceeds 72% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). This entry sits in this band.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Washington's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 87 complete annual observations from 1938 to 2025, WASHINGTON REAGAN AP warmed at a fitted rate of 0.20°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Washington primary station fitted change +0.20 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45°F (7°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 2.9" | 4.9" | 19.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 48°F (9°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 2.6" | 5.0" | 15.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 57°F (14°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 3.5" | 2.0" | 7.5 | 0.0 |
| April | 68°F (20°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 3.2" | 0.0" | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| May | 77°F (25°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 3.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.1 |
| June | 85°F (30°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 76°F (25°C) | 4.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 7.5 |
| July | 90°F (32°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 81°F (27°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 15.4 |
| August | 88°F (31°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 3.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 10.8 |
| September | 81°F (27°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 3.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.6 |
| October | 69°F (21°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 3.7" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| November | 58°F (15°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 2.9" | 0.1" | 3.8 | 0.0 |
| December | 49°F (9°C) | 35°F (1°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 3.4" | 1.7" | 13.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 90°F around July 13, short of 90°F on every date, while 49 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 30°F near January 21.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into February 16, then returns to freezing around December 30, covering 49 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 8, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 29 at 27%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 118 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 19 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 20°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Washington.
Where Washington Stands Nationally
Among the steadiest day-night climates ranked: even the widest normal daily swing holds to roughly 20°F.
Washington earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 4.9"
9.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.0"
9.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.0"
11.0 days with precipitation
10.8 days with precipitation
11.6 days with precipitation
10.6 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
8.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
8.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.7"
10.1 days with precipitation
Washington spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 28% of the annual total and December through February 21%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Washington has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 43.5°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: July averages 4.3" and February 2.6". The three wettest months together take 30% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Washington, it arrives in quantity
41.8" of precipitation falls across only about 118 wet days here, averaging 0.36 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 118 a year, 32% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.36 inches
- Most wet days
- May, about 12
- Fewest wet days
- October, about 8
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Winter brings real snow to Washington
Washington averages 13.7 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 8 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 13.7 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 8 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 3% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 18
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 24
50% probability date
Growing Season
239 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
3,769
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,738
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Humidity & Wind
Monthly averages from hourly observations
| Month | Humidity | Wind (mph) | Clear Sky % | Overcast % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59% | 9.2 | 16% | 39% |
| February | 57% | 10.2 | 14% | 41% |
| March | 55% | 10.1 | 15% | 40% |
| April | 61% | 9.1 | 12% | 36% |
| May | 66% | 8.5 | 8% | 32% |
| June | 64% | 8.0 | 10% | 25% |
| July | 66% | 7.8 | 9% | 28% |
| August | 67% | 7.8 | 14% | 26% |
| September | 69% | 8.0 | 20% | 30% |
| October | 65% | 8.4 | 22% | 33% |
| November | 63% | 8.6 | 16% | 37% |
| December | 62% | 8.8 | 16% | 40% |
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside DC closest to Washington on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (59°F here).
- Abernathy, TX 59°F · 0.0°F off
- Big Sandy, TN 59°F · 0.0°F off
- Coldwater, KS 59°F · 0.0°F off
- Colfax, CA 59°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (41.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Blaine, WA 41.8" · 0.0" off
- Lowville, NY 41.8" · 0.0" off
- Mannford, OK 41.8" · 0.0" off
- Bradford, PA 41.9" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Washington
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Washington's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 3,769 annual heating degree days against 1,738 for cooling. Its 43.5°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Washington's frost-free season lasts about 239 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Washington coldest normal
January
The coldest month still averages 38°F (3°C), above freezing, so this calendar has no hard winter.
-
2. Washington typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Washington snow peak
February
Washington averages 13.7 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Washington's climate
How much snow does Washington get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Washington get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Washington? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Washington's primary station: WASHINGTON REAGAN AP (USW00013743). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 1150000). Match rule for Washington: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Washington comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.