New February Precipitation Records in Washington, Baltimore

With only 0.04" of precipitation falling as light snow and sleet in the last few hours before midnight, the February total of 0.35" is a new record low for the month in Washington, DC. The old record since records began in 1871 was 0.42" in 1978. The chart shows the 10 driest Februaries since 1871. The monthly total has been below 1" only 3 additional times, 1872, 1974, and 1925.

At Dulles Airport, the 0.36" for February was above the 0.25" of 1978. However, the 0.01" before midnight at BWI Airport brought the monthly total to 0.26", breaking the previous Baltimore record of 0.36" in 2002.

Image (click to enlarge): CapitalClimate chart from NWS data, background photo © Kevin Ambrose