TheClimateChanger Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 Also, Elkins (~2000 feet) had its second least snowy winter on record in 2022-2023. Elkins was poised to obliterate the 1931-32 record, but some late season snowfall pushed last winter into a close 2nd place. Below is the top 20 least snowy winters in Elkins. A lot of them are quite old, and I think some of that is attributable to changing measurement techniques. In the past, it was common just to measure depth changes or attribute a 10:1 ratio to the melted snow. They certainly weren't using snowboards. Regardless, 4 of the top 20 have occurred in fairly recent years. If it simply doesn't snow, it doesn't matter how the measuring techniques have changed, because there's no snowfall to inflate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClimateChanger Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 On 3/1/2023 at 1:24 PM, PrinceFrederickWx said: Late 1940's / early 1950's seemed to be an incredibly warm and bad stretch too: The 1948-49 winter was 3rd warmest, and 1949-50 was tied for 4th warmest. 1949-50 was also the least snowiest year on record for BWI. Somehow 1948-49 managed to score 19.9" despite being so warm though. 1950 did feature a colder than average March after the DJF torch though. The big difference was those winters were ridiculously cold out west. Several recent winters have just been coast-to-coast blowtorches. 1950 also finished out as a pretty chilly year overall, capped by The Great Appalachian Snowstorm with unprecedented November cold and snow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClimateChanger Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 On 12/21/2015 at 12:55 PM, MN Transplant said: Probably about the same way we handle the fact that some of the old observations were taken multiple stories up in a building in a completely different part of town. Ignore it. Agreed - that was a bunch of nonsense peddled by CWG, as per usual. No mention of the HO-83 hygrothermometer in use at all of the airports from the mid 80s until mid/late 90s, which had a warm bias in excess of that amount - particularly, for daytime maxima in light wind and sunshine. A lot of heat records set during that era, particularly in the summertime. But we have blasted past those years. To analogize to baseball and the steroid era, it would be akin to a bunch of players, not using steroids, suddenly hitting 80-90 home runs every year. And Barry Bonds' record was being eclipsed regularly. The difference between IAD and DCA this year is 2.7F, which if it holds would be the ninth smallest difference between the two sites on record. The difference this month has been just 1.5F. No calls for an investigation. No national scandal. Wonder why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 On 6/30/2023 at 9:04 PM, RodneyS said: June 2023 at DCA followed suit with May, averaging only 74.1 degrees -- tied for 76th all-time warmest June in DC history and 2.2 degrees below the 1991-2020 normal. As a result, January-June 2023 dropped further behind 2012, and also fell behind 2017, for the warmest first half of a calendar year in DC. Specifically, the first half of 2023 (181 days) averaged 57.1 degrees at DCA, behind 2012 (182 days) at 58.0 and 2017 (181 days) at 57.3. July 2023 at DCA came in slightly above the 1991-2020 normal, at 81.6 degrees, but that was lower than July 2012 (84.0) and July 2017 (81.7). So, the first seven months of 2023 slipped further behind those two years, with an average temperature of 60.7 degrees, versus 61.8 for the first seven months of 2012 and 60.9 for the first seven months of 2017. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 On 7/31/2023 at 5:55 PM, RodneyS said: July 2023 at DCA came in slightly above the 1991-2020 normal, at 81.6 degrees, but that was lower than July 2012 (84.0) and July 2017 (81.7). So, the first seven months of 2023 slipped further behind those two years, with an average temperature of 60.7 degrees, versus 61.8 for the first seven months of 2012 and 60.9 for the first seven months of 2017. August 2023 at DCA came in below the 1991-2020 normal, at 78.7 degrees, which was lower than August 2012 (81.0), but higher than August 2017 (77.4). So, the first eight months of 2023 slipped further behind 2012, with an average temperature of 62.96 degrees versus 64.22 for the first eight months of 2012. However, that 62.96 was barely below the 62.97 for the first eight months of 2017. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted September 7, 2023 Share Posted September 7, 2023 A remarkable 4-day run at Dulles. In the 60 Septembers prior to 2023 at IAD, only three 99-degree readings had been recorded, with no September day exceeding 99. Beginning Sunday (9-3-2023), we have reached 99, 99, 99, and 100 on consecutive days. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrinceFrederickWx Posted September 7, 2023 Share Posted September 7, 2023 BWI's first half of the year was second-hottest behind 2012, and that was with a below-average May and June. July and August were above-average, and we may have a serious shot at hottest September ever, so I'm issuing a Hottest Year on Record Watch for BWI. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted September 30, 2023 Share Posted September 30, 2023 On 9/1/2023 at 7:11 AM, RodneyS said: August 2023 at DCA came in below the 1991-2020 normal, at 78.7 degrees, which was lower than August 2012 (81.0), but higher than August 2017 (77.4). So, the first eight months of 2023 slipped further behind 2012, with an average temperature of 62.96 degrees versus 64.22 for the first eight months of 2012. However, that 62.96 was barely below the 62.97 for the first eight months of 2017. September 2023 at DCA came in above the 1991-2020 normal, at 73.4 degrees, which was higher than both September 2012 (72.2) and September 2017 (72.6). So, the first nine months of 2023 gained on both 2012 and 2017, with an average temperature of 64.1 degrees versus 65.1 for the first nine months of 2012 and 64.0 for the first nine months of 2017. Thus, while 2023 is averaging about a degree cooler per day than 2012 did during its first nine months, 2023 is averaging a tad warmer than 2017 did during its first nine months. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its a Breeze Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 On 9/30/2023 at 6:52 PM, RodneyS said: September 2023 at DCA came in above the 1991-2020 normal, at 73.4 degrees. Which is incredible. 5 days (3rd - 7th) were so above average, that it made the whole month above normal. Had those days been 'normal', we would have been below average for the month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 On 9/30/2023 at 6:52 PM, RodneyS said: September 2023 at DCA came in above the 1991-2020 normal, at 73.4 degrees, which was higher than both September 2012 (72.2) and September 2017 (72.6). So, the first nine months of 2023 gained on both 2012 and 2017, with an average temperature of 64.1 degrees versus 65.1 for the first nine months of 2012 and 64.0 for the first nine months of 2017. Thus, while 2023 is averaging about a degree cooler per day than 2012 did during its first nine months, 2023 is averaging a tad warmer than 2017 did during its first nine months. October 2023 at DCA came in above the 1991-2020 normal, at 63.1 degrees, which was higher than October 2012 (61.0), but lower than October 2017 (64.9). So, the first 10 months of 2023 gained on 2012, but fell behind 2017, with an average temperature of 64.0 degrees versus 64.7 for the first 10 months of 2012 and 64.1 for the first 10 months of 2017. 2023 could still be the warmest year ever in DC, if it were to average about 50 degrees during November and December. Under that circumstance, the final two months of 2023 would be the third warmest ever, behind only 2015 (52.5) and 2001 (50.2). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 On 10/31/2023 at 7:24 PM, RodneyS said: October 2023 at DCA came in above the 1991-2020 normal, at 63.1 degrees, which was higher than October 2012 (61.0), but lower than October 2017 (64.9). So, the first 10 months of 2023 gained on 2012, but fell behind 2017, with an average temperature of 64.0 degrees versus 64.7 for the first 10 months of 2012 and 64.1 for the first 10 months of 2017. 2023 could still be the warmest year ever in DC, if it were to average about 50 degrees during November and December. Under that circumstance, the final two months of 2023 would be the third warmest ever, behind only 2015 (52.5) and 2001 (50.2). November 2023 at DCA came in slightly below the 1991-2020 normal, at 49.6 degrees, which was higher than November 2012 (46.6), but lower than November 2017 (49.8). So, the first 11 months of 2023 gained a little on 2012, but edged further behind 2017, with an average temperature of 62.7 degrees versus 63.1 for the first 11 months of 2012 and 62.8 for the first 11 months of 2017. However, because December 2012 was quite warm at DCA (45.3) and December 2017 was relatively cold there (39.2), 2023 will very likely finish behind 2012, while probably finishing ahead of 2017. Specifically, if December 2023 averages between 40.4-49.1 degrees at DCA (1991-2020 normal is 41.7), 2023 will finish as the second warmest calendar year in DC history. For 2023 to beat 2012 as the warmest calendar year in DC history, December 2023 at DCA would have to be the second warmest meteorological winter month in DC history, behind only December 2015 (51.2) 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted December 31, 2023 Share Posted December 31, 2023 On 11/30/2023 at 5:49 PM, RodneyS said: November 2023 at DCA came in slightly below the 1991-2020 normal, at 49.6 degrees, which was higher than November 2012 (46.6), but lower than November 2017 (49.8). So, the first 11 months of 2023 gained a little on 2012, but edged further behind 2017, with an average temperature of 62.7 degrees versus 63.1 for the first 11 months of 2012 and 62.8 for the first 11 months of 2017. However, because December 2012 was quite warm at DCA (45.3) and December 2017 was relatively cold there (39.2), 2023 will very likely finish behind 2012, while probably finishing ahead of 2017. Specifically, if December 2023 averages between 40.4-49.1 degrees at DCA (1991-2020 normal is 41.7), 2023 will finish as the second warmest calendar year in DC history. For 2023 to beat 2012 as the warmest calendar year in DC history, December 2023 at DCA would have to be the second warmest meteorological winter month in DC history, behind only December 2015 (51.2) 2023 gave it a good try, but could not quite catch 2012 for the warmest calendar year ever in DC. December 2023 at DCA finished at 45.5 degrees, tied for the 5th warmest December in DC history. However, that brought the yearly average only to 61.3 degrees, vs 61.6 in 2012. 2023 did displace 2017 (60.8) as the 2nd warmest in DC history. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Interesting note from the Capital Weather Gang: "The 2.24 inches at Reagan National Airport, 1.76 inches at Dulles International Airport, and 2.62 inches at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport were all record amounts for the date. That brings Washington’s total rainfall to 9.69 inches since Dec. 1, well past the previous high of 7.56 inches during the same period in 1901-1902, according to Capital Weather Gang’s Ian Livingston." See https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/01/10/dc-storm-flooding-record-rainfall 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Today, January 26, 2024, Reagan National Airport shattered the DC record for the earliest 80-degree reading of the year by 26 days. DCA reached exactly 80 today, and the previous record-holder was February 21st (2018), which reached 82. Similarly, while Dulles International Airport fell a degree short of 80 today, it shattered the IAD record for the earliest 79-degree reading of the year by 26 days. Again, the previous record-holder was February 21, 2018, which reached 80 at IAD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN Transplant Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 18 hours ago, RodneyS said: Today, January 26, 2024, Reagan National Airport shattered the DC record for the earliest 80-degree reading of the year by 26 days. DCA reached exactly 80 today, and the previous record-holder was February 21st (2018), which reached 82. Similarly, while Dulles International Airport fell a degree short of 80 today, it shattered the IAD record for the earliest 79-degree reading of the year by 26 days. Again, the previous record-holder was February 21, 2018, which reached 80 at IAD. Rodney, I wonder how many times the top two temperatures for a month have happened on the same date. We had that oddity yesterday with 1/26/50 previously being the high for the month. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 On 1/27/2024 at 12:54 PM, MN Transplant said: Rodney, I wonder how many times the top two temperatures for a month have happened on the same date. We had that oddity yesterday with 1/26/50 previously being the high for the month. My research indicates that January is the only month in DC history where the two highest temperatures of a month have fallen on the same day. Here is the complete list: January: Highest -- 26th of 2024 (80); second highest -- 26th of 1950 (79) February: Highest -- 25th of 1930 (84); second highest (tie) -- 21st of 2018 and 28th of 1948 (82) March: Highest -- 23rd of 1907 (93); second highest -- 29th of 1907 (92) April: Highest -- (tie) 17th of 2002, 18th of 1976, 23rd of 1960, and 27th of 1915 (95) May: Highest -- 31st of 1991 (99); second highest -- 30th of 1991 (98) June: Highest -- 29th of 2012 (104); second highest (tie) -- 9th of 2011 and 9th of 1874 (102) July: Highest -- 20th of 1930 (106); second highest (tie) -- 7th of 2012 and 10th of 1936 (105) August: Highest -- 6th of 1918 (106); second highest -- 17th of 1997 (105) September: Highest -- 7th of 1881 (104); second highest -- 2nd of 1980 (101) October: Highest -- 2nd of 2018 (98); second highest -- 5th of 1941 (96) November: Highest -- 1st of 1974 (86); second highest -- 2nd of 1971 (85) December: Highest -- 7th of 1998 (79); second highest -- 6th of 1998 (78) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 11 hours ago, RodneyS said: My research indicates that January is the only month in DC history where the two highest temperatures of a month have fallen on the same day. Here is the complete list: I have updated the list to add the lowest and second lowest temperatures of each month in DC. Note how -- while record high temperatures have occurred more frequently in recent years -- they encompass essentially the entire period of record (1872-2024). On the other hand, with a few exceptions, record low temperatures occurred almost entirely in the old days. January: Highest -- 26th of 2024 (80); second highest -- 26th of 1950 (79) January: Lowest -- 1st of 1881 (-14); second lowest -- 14th of 1912 (-13) February: Highest -- 25th of 1930 (84); second highest -- (tie) 21st of 2018 and 28th of 1948 (82) February: Lowest -- 11th of 1899 (-15); second lowest -- 10th of 1899 (-8) March: Highest -- 23rd of 1907 (93); second highest -- 29th of 1907 (92) March: Lowest -- 4th of 1873 (4); second lowest -- 5th of 1872 (5) April: Highest -- (tie) 17th of 2002, 18th of 1976, 23rd of 1960, and 27th of 1915 (95) April: Lowest -- 1st of 1923 (15); second lowest -- 19th of 1912 (22) May: Highest -- 31st of 1991 (99); second highest -- 30th of 1991 (98) May: Lowest -- 11th of 1906 (33); second lowest -- (tie) 9th of 1947 and 1st of 1876 (34) June: Highest -- 29th of 2012 (104); second highest -- (tie) 9th of 2011 and 9th of 1874 (102) June: Lowest -- 2nd of 1897 (43); second lowest -- (tie) 1st of 1938, 1st of 1930, 11th of 1913, 9th of 1913, 9th of 1912, 3rd of 1910, 9th of 1891 (45) July: Highest -- 20th of 1930 (106); second highest -- (tie) 7th of 2012 and 10th of 1936 (105) July: Lowest -- (tie) 4th of 1933, 4th of 1907, 31st of 1895 (52) August: Highest -- 6th of 1918 (106); second highest -- 17th of 1997 (105) August: Lowest -- (tie) 29th of 1986, 31st of 1934, and 24th of 1890 (49) September: Highest -- 7th of 1881 (104); second highest -- 2nd of 1980 (101) September: Lowest -- 23rd of 1904 (36); second lowest -- (tie) 30th of 1912 and 26th of 1879 (38) October: Highest -- 2nd of 2018 (98); second highest -- 5th of 1941 (96) October: Lowest -- (tie) 31st of 1917, 31st of 1893, 30th of 1873 (26) November: Highest -- 1st of 1974 (86); second highest -- 2nd of 1971 (85) November: Lowest -- 30th of 1929 (11); second lowest -- (tie) 23rd of 1880 and 22nd of 1880 (12) December: Highest -- 7th of 1998 (79); second highest -- 6th of 1998 (78) December: Lowest -- 31st of 1880 (-13); second lowest -- 30th of 1880 (-7) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 On 1/10/2024 at 3:30 PM, RodneyS said: Interesting note from the Capital Weather Gang: "The 2.24 inches at Reagan National Airport, 1.76 inches at Dulles International Airport, and 2.62 inches at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport were all record amounts for the date. That brings Washington’s total rainfall to 9.69 inches since Dec. 1, well past the previous high of 7.56 inches during the same period in 1901-1902, according to Capital Weather Gang’s Ian Livingston." See https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/01/10/dc-storm-flooding-record-rainfall The precipitation slowed at DCA over the past three weeks, but still managed an additional 2.62 inches, to bring January precipitation there to 5.88 inches, good enough for the 7th-most in DC history. Moreover, the December-January total is now 12.31 inches, which is the most to start a meteorological winter in 87 years. That December 1936-January 1937 produced 13.06 inches in DC, and the only December-January to exceed that was way back in 1881-82, which recorded 13.21 inches. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 On 1/31/2024 at 6:36 PM, RodneyS said: The precipitation slowed at DCA over the past three weeks, but still managed an additional 2.62 inches, to bring January precipitation there to 5.88 inches, good enough for the 7th-most in DC history. Moreover, the December-January total is now 12.31 inches, which is the most to start a meteorological winter in 87 years. That December 1936-January 1937 produced 13.06 inches in DC, and the only December-January to exceed that was way back in 1881-82, which recorded 13.21 inches. Precipitation at DCA slowed way down in February, coming in at only 1.41 inches, which made it the 22nd driest of 154 Februaries in DC history. However, the meteorological winter total at DCA was 13.72 inches, making it the 12th wettest in DC history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 17 hours ago, RodneyS said: Precipitation at DCA slowed way down in February, coming in at only 1.41 inches, which made it the 22nd driest of 154 Februaries in DC history. However, the meteorological winter total at DCA was 13.72 inches, making it the 12th wettest in DC history. While precipitation slowed at DCA in February, the warmth continued, with an average temperature of 44.4 degrees -- 7th warmest February in DC history. That brought the meteorological winter average to 43.2 degrees -- also 7th warmest in DC history. So, the 2023-24 DCA meteorological winter is easy to summarize -- warm and wet. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 On 3/20/2023 at 9:07 PM, RodneyS said: The 2022-23 astronomical winter (December 21-March 20) and composite winter (December 1-March 20) at DCA followed suit, with each also coming as the third warmest in DC history. The former averaged 44.8 degrees, behind only 2011-12 at 45.9 and 2019-20 at 45.5. The latter averaged 44.3 degrees, behind only 2011-12 at 45.6 and 2019-20 at 44.6. The 2023-24 astronomical and composite winters were each warmer than last season at DCA. The former displaced last season as the third warmest in DC history, averaging 45.2 degrees; while the latter displaced 2019-20 as the second warmest in DC history, averaging 45.1 degrees. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 On 2/29/2024 at 6:38 PM, RodneyS said: Precipitation at DCA slowed way down in February, coming in at only 1.41 inches, which made it the 22nd driest of 154 Februaries in DC history. However, the meteorological winter total at DCA was 13.72 inches, making it the 12th wettest in DC history. Precipitation at DCA rebounded in March to 4.89 inches, making it the 26th wettest in DC history. Moreover, December 2023-March 2024 precipitation at DCA totaled 18.61 inches, making it the 10th wettest in DC history and the wettest since 1993-1994, which totaled 21.31 (4th). The wettest December-March is 1890-91, which totaled 23.21. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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