RodneyS

It's time for the 12th annual Mid-Atlantic snowfall contest! Those who participated last year will recollect an exciting contest through mid-February, when a blockbuster snowstorm seemed poised to produce a major change to our leaderboard. However, the storm turned south, and largely missed our contest airports. That left two of our entrants tied for first place, with many others close behind. But no one gained ground after that because snow was done for the season in these parts and @HighStakes held on to edge out @mattie g-- courtesy of a tiebreaker. The consensus view this snow season is that we are likely to experience a second consecutive borderline Weak La Nina. Does that mean that snow totals at our airports will parallel last season's moderate totals? I think the consensus there is: "Who knows?" Which should make for a wide-open contest this season. In any case, the focus of our contest is forecasting the total snow that will fall during the 2025-26 snow season at BWI International (BWI), Reagan National (DCA), Dulles International (IAD), and Richmond International (RIC) Airports. In the event a tiebreaker is required (that happened not only last year, but also seven years ago), please choose one of the following two airports: Salisbury, MD (SBY) or Lynchburg, VA (LYH). Choose only one. Please note that you are forecasting at each of five airports total snowfall for the entire snow season (NOT just Dec/Jan/Feb) to the nearest one-tenth of an inch. Generally, snow does not fall after early April at any of these airports, and so the contest is usually finalized by early to mid-April. The winner will be the entrant who has the lowest combined absolute value departure for all four major airports. For example, if you forecast zeroes at each airport except for Richmond: BWI: 0.0" DCA: 0.0" IAD: 0.0" RIC: 10.0" And the actual seasonal totals turn out to be: BWI: 2.5" DCA: 2.5" IAD: 2.5" RIC: 2.5" Your absolute value departures would be: BWI: 2.5 DCA: 2.5 IAD: 2.5 RIC: 7.5 Thus, your total departure would be 15.0. Please use the following format when posting your forecast, in this order: BWI: DCA: IAD: RIC: Tiebreaker (SBY or LYH): The deadline for entries is Monday, December 1, at 11:59 PM EST. You are welcome to update your forecast at any time up to the deadline. However, please do not edit your original post -- either submit a new post or send me a private message. If there's any accumulating snow before the deadline, be sure to include that in your forecast total. I think the best approach is to submit your forecast in advance of the deadline and update if necessary, just in case you get tied up on December 1st, when the contest will lock -- no late entries will be accepted. The winner gets an E-trophy made of snow and an induction into the Hall of Fame with the previous winners: 2014-15: @nw baltimore wx@S@S@Shadowzone 2015-16: @Shadowzone@Stormpchadowzone 2016-17: @StormpcStormpchadowzone 2017-18: @olafminesaw@Storm @olafminesaw 2018-19: @olafminesaw (tiebreaker win against @Stormpc) @Stormpc 2019-20: @Prestige Worldwide 2020-21: @NorthArlington101 2021-22: @IUsedToHateCold 2022-23: @LittleVillageWx 2023-24: @Kmlwx 2024-25: @HighStakes(tiebreaker win against @mattie g)@Storm Everyone is encouraged to play, including lurkers, new members, and people outside the region. Good luck everyone!

DCA _NYC _BOS __ORD _ ATL _IAH __ DEN _PHX _SEA -0.4 0.1 0.3 1.5 -0.5 1.9 3.3 1.0 1.5

October 2025 at DCA made it three consecutive months of below normal temperatures at 60.3 degrees, vs the 1991-2020 October normal of 60.8 degrees. Precipitation at DCA was also below normal at 1.89 inches vs 3.66 during 1991-2020. The January-October 2025 temperature averaged 62.7 degrees at DCA, compared with 64.5 last year and the record warm 64.7 during January-October 2012.

DCA _NYC _BOS _ ORD _ATL _IAH __ DEN _PHX _SEA 0.1 1.7 1.6 3.8 0.6 3.0 1.6 0.6 0.9

The September 2025 temperature at DCA was a tad below normal at 72.2 degrees, vs 72.4 during 1991-2020. Similarly, precipitation there was 3.72 inches vs 3.93 during 1991-2020. The January-September 2025 temperature averaged 63.0 degrees at DCA, compared with 64.7 last year and the record warm 65.1 during January-September 2012.

The 2025 astronomical summer (June 21-September 23) at DCA averaged 77.7 degrees (35th warmest in DC history), down 2.0 degrees from 2024, and the coolest since the above-mentioned one eight years ago beat it by 0.1 degrees. Also, the 2025 composite summer (June 1-September 23) at DCA averaged 77.0 degrees (38th warmest in DC history), down 2.3 degrees from 2024, and the coolest since 2009, which averaged 75.6 degrees.

DCA _ NYC _ BOS ___ ORD _ ATL _ IAH ___ DEN _ PHX _ SEA -2.3 -0.9 -0.8 -2.2 -2.3 0.9 0.3 0.5 1.8

Thanks, although I still did not foresee how cool DCA would actually be.

August 2025 at DCA proved to be memorable, coming in as the coolest August in 25 years and the driest in DC history. The average temperature was only 75.8 degrees, tied for the 91st warmest in DC history. That is 3.6 below the 1991-2020 DCA August normal of 79.4 and 0.8 below the 1871-2025 DC August average of 76.6. The cool August reduced the average daily temperature June 1-August 31 to 78.4 degrees, the 33rd warmest meteorological summer in DC history. January-August 2025 averaged 61.8 degrees, compared with 63.7 last year and the record warm 64.2 during January-August 2012. On the precipitation front, August 2025 at DCA produced only 0.20 inches, well below the previous record low of 0.55 set in 1962. That brought the June-August total to 9.22 inches, well below the 1991-2020 normal of 11.77, and only the 119th wettest meteorological summer in DC history. January-August 2025 at DCA produced 27.26 inches, the 87th wettest in DC history and slightly below the 1991-2020 normal of 28.67 inches. Here are the Top Ten driest months in DC history: 1) October 1963 trace 2) October 2000 0.02 inches 3) April 1985 0.03 inches 4) March 2006 0.05 inches 5) September 2005 0.11 inches 6) September 1884 0.14 inches 7) December 1889 0.19 inches 8) (tie) September 1967 and August 2025 0.20 inches 10) December 1955 0.22 inches

August DCA _ NYC _ BOS ___ ORD _ ATL _ IAH ___ DEN _ PHX _ SEA -1.4 0.3 -0.6 0.9 -1.5 0.1 1.8 1.5 1.1

July 2025 averaged 82.4 degrees at DCA, 1.4 above the 1991-2020 normal and the 10th warmest July in DC history. That resulted in a January-July 2025 DCA temperature of 59.8 degrees, behind last year's first seven months (61.4) and further behind the record established in 2012 (61.8). July precipitation at DCA was a somewhat below normal total of 3.54 inches, only the 95th wettest July in DC history, although more rain possibly could fall by midnight to up that total closer to the 1991-2020 DCA normal of 4.32 inches. Edited to add: No additional precipitation fell at DCA on July 31st, and so the final July total was 3.54 inches.

DCA _ NYC _ BOS ___ ORD _ ATL _ IAH ___ DEN _ PHX _ SEA -0.2 0.4 0.8 0.4 -0.3 1.7 1.5 0. 1 0.8

June 2025 was a down and up month at DCA, with a late heat wave more than offsetting the early cool temperatures. The net result was an average June 2025 temperature of 76.9 degrees, which was 0.6 above the 1991-2020 normal and tied for the 19th warmest in DC history. That resulted in a January-June 2025 DCA temperature of 55.9 degrees, behind last year's first half (57.6) and even further behind the record high first half established in 2012 (58.0). Precipitation was again well above average at 5.48 inches, 28th wettest June in DC history.

FYI, DCA made it to 92 today to put June 12th into the record book as officially the first 90+ day of 2025 in DC. IAD fell just short, peaking at 89.

At DCA today the high temperature failed to reach 90 degrees, which has been true of every day this year. Since 2003, when DCA recorded its first 90 degree or greater reading of the year on June 24th, the first 90+ reading has occurred in a range from April 6th to June 11th. Thus, this year's first 90+ reading (which may occur tomorrow) will be the latest in (at least) 22 years. FYI, the latest day of the year in official DC weather history for the first 90+ reading is July 12th, which occurred in 1979. That year, like 2003, there were a total of twenty 90+ days. The (two) years with the fewest number of 90+ days in DC history occurred much further back -- in 1886 and 1905, with seven each. In 1886, the first 90+ day was July 7th and the last was September 28th; in 1905, the first 90+ day was June 6th and the last was August 13th. At the other end of the spectrum, the (two) years with the greatest number of 90+ days in DC history occurred in 1980 and 2010, with sixty-seven each. In 1980, the first 90+ day was May 13th and the last was September 23rd; in 2010, the first 90+ day was April 6th and the last was September 25th.