Washington DC month by month
Plan your visit to Washington DC by month. Compare weather, crowds, events, and prices across all twelve months with historical climate data.
- January
- High
- 6°C
- Low
- -2°C
- Rain
- 84 mm
January is Washington DC's coldest month. That single fact shapes everything about a winter visit to the capital. Average highs reach 6°C (43°F), with overnight lows dipping to…
- February
- High
- 9°C
- Low
- 0°C
- Rain
- 82 mm
February in Washington DC is, plainly put, the city's deep off-season. Average highs reach about 9°C (48°F) and overnight lows dip to -0.5°C (31°F), with the Tidal Basin's cherry…
- March
- High
- 15°C
- Low
- 4°C
- Rain
- 98 mm
March in Washington DC is a coin flip. The month's headline is the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which typically opens in the final week of March and celebrates the roughly…
- April
- High
- 20°C
- Low
- 8°C
- Rain
- 95 mm
April in Washington DC belongs to the cherry blossoms. The roughly 3,700 trees around the Tidal Basin, a 1912 gift from Tokyo, typically hit peak bloom between late March and…
- May
- High
- 24°C
- Low
- 13°C
- Rain
- 139 mm
May in Washington DC belongs to the school groups. That is the single most important thing to know before you book. Tens of thousands of students in matching t-shirts pour across…
- June
- High
- 29°C
- Low
- 18°C
- Rain
- 138 mm
June in Washington DC means one thing above all else. Humidity. The city sits on filled marshland along the Potomac River, and by early June the air turns thick and heavy in a way…
- July
- High
- 31°C
- Low
- 21°C
- Rain
- 168 mm
July in Washington DC is oppressively humid. Average highs reach 31.4°C (89°F), and at 73% humidity, the heat index on exposed sections of the National Mall pushes past 38°C…
- August
- High
- 30°C
- Low
- 20°C
- Rain
- 140 mm
August in Washington DC is defined by humidity. The 74% average turns afternoon highs of 29.5°C (85°F) into a heat index near 38°C (100°F) on peak days. Nighttime lows sit around…
- September
- High
- 26°C
- Low
- 17°C
- Rain
- 118 mm
September in Washington DC is defined by a single transition. The first week still carries the weight of summer, with 73% humidity that clings to your skin the moment you step…
- October
- High
- 20°C
- Low
- 10°C
- Rain
- 78 mm
October is likely the finest month to visit Washington DC, and most locals will tell you the same. The thick Potomac Basin humidity that turns July and August into an exercise in…
- November
- High
- 14°C
- Low
- 4°C
- Rain
- 62 mm
November in Washington DC is, more than anything else, the month of Veterans Day. The national ceremony on November 11 at Arlington National Cemetery, founded in 1854, draws…
- December
- High
- 9°C
- Low
- 0°C
- Rain
- 98 mm
December in Washington DC means short days and cold air, with daylight fading by 4:45pm and a damp Potomac wind that gets through anything thinner than a proper winter coat.…