Washington Temperature Update: Late December Surge Ties for 6th Warmest

A warm surge which exceeded expectations in the past 5 days has pushed the Washington December average temperature to a tie for the 6th warmest in 141 years of climate history. Although it was well below the record of 70° set in 1965, today's high of 62° was 8° above the forecast from Monday and 18° above the climatological average. The morning low of 46° was 17° above its average and 2° above the average daily high. In contrast to the high, which was 8° from the daily record, the low was a whopping 59° away from the record of -13° set in 1880. The daily departure of 18° above average was the largest of the month and the 9th double-digit departure this December. There were 8 days in the month which had temperatures of 60° or higher.

Images (click to enlarge): Top 11 warmest Decembers in Washington DC; CapitalClimate chart from National Weather Service data, background image © Kevin Ambrose (www.weatherbook.com)