WASHINGTON — July was almost a full degree warmer than average in the nation's capital and wetter than usual.
This trend is expected to continue into August, NOAA's outlook for above-average rainfall for the month. That's a good thing for the ongoing drought conditions across the DMV.
The average temperature in July in the District finished 0.8 degrees above average, making it D.C.'s eighth warmer than average July since 2013. Plus, with 6.36 inches of rain, July 2023 was not only wetter than average (4.25 inches), but it was also D.C.’s wettest month since July 2022.
August is D.C.’s second hottest month of the year on average behind July. However, on rare occasions, August can be the warmest month of the summer. There have been five such instances over the last 20 years, most recently in 2018. Also, August 2016 was the last time triple-digit heat occurred in the nation’s capital, according to the National Weather Service.
Average daily high/low temperatures in Washington, D.C. range from 89°/72° on August 1 to 86°/69° on August 31. D.C.’s hottest August temperature was 106° on August 6, 1918, which tied for D.C.’s hottest overall temperature. Meanwhile, the coolest August temperature in the nation’s capital of 49° has occurred three times, most recently on August 29, 1986.
August is usually one of the drier months of the year in Washington, D.C., with a rainfall average of 3.25 inches. In an average year, August is wetter than only four other months out of the year (January, February, April and November).
Unlike those other four months, rainfall in August is more likely to occur during thunderstorms, as well as from remnants of tropical storms and hurricanes after they make landfall.
Three of the last 10 Augusts were significantly drier than average with less than 2 inches of rain (2019, 2015, 2013). By comparison, August 2021 finished as D.C.’s ninth wettest with 9.07”. Weather records in the nation’s capital date back to 1871.
Although this August got off to a cooler than average start with highs in the mid-80s, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center expects this month to finish with near-average temperatures and above-average rainfall.
Washingtonians haven’t had a cooler than average August since 2017.
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