November's temperature quirks
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Some oddities noted during the month of November: Temperatures at BWI-Marshall on Nov. 4 varied by only 3 degrees. The high that Thursday was 50 degrees, after a low of 47. (That matched another 3-degree spread on May 18, when the high was 56, the low 53.) On Nov. 12, the airport recorded both the month’s low temperature (28 degrees) and its high (66), a span of 38 degrees. There was a wider spread back on April 30 (42 to 83 degrees), but neither reading was the extreme for that month.
(SUN PHOTO: John Makely, November 2003)
UPDATE: Monday morning's low of 25 degrees at BWI has eclipsed the 28-degree low reading on the 12th. That's what I get for trying to wrap up the month's weather data a week before it actually ends. - FR
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
Comments
Question that is slightly off-topic...why does it seem that DCA is on another planet as far as freezes this time of year? I understand heat islands and the proximity to the river, but IAD has had (including this morning) 16 days where the low dipped below 32 this fall, BWI has had 8 (including today) and unless it hasn't been updated yet, DCA has had ZERO (although a couple 33's). Even Tallahassee, FL has had 5 freezing nights so far!! How is it SO MUCH WARMER at DCA?
FR: You answered your own question. Reagan National Airport is not just close to the Potomac, it is ON the Potomac, and benefits from the reservoir of heat in the water. It is also smack in the middle of the urban center of Washington and Northern Virginia, and its heat island. The long-term average annual temperature there is 57.5 degrees - 3 degrees warmer than BWI or Dulles. Ditto for the October and November averages. That said, DC's first freeze is late. The average is Nov. 15. The Capitol Weather Gang had a nice discussion on the topic recently. They note that the LAST freeze for DC last winter was on Feb. 27, the first time on record it has occurred in February. The average number of freeze-free days in DC has been increasing steadily for more than a century. http://wapo.st/ciTk4X
Posted by: Bryan | November 29, 2010 9:21 AM
According to the NWS Sterling page, the low DID reach 32 at DCA at 7:17 this morning.
FR: So it was. Thanks.
Posted by: Bryan | November 29, 2010 10:44 PM