Washington, DC

District of Columbia · Records since 1871–2026

☁️ 75°F Feels like 82°
Currently in Washington
As of 2:30 PM EDT

Records for September 11

🔥 Record High

98°F

September 11, 1983

+16° from 82° normal

❄ Record Low

40°F

September 11, 1917

-26° from 66° normal
🌞 Normal high: 82°F 🌑 Normal low: 66°F 1991–2020 normals

All-Time Records — Washington

🔥
106°F
Hottest Day Ever
Jul 20, 1930
❄
-15°F
Coldest Day Ever
Feb 11, 1899
🌧
6.39"
Wettest Day Ever
Aug 23, 1933
☃
21.0"
Most Snow in One Day
Jan 28, 1922

First & Last Dates — Washington

How early and how late each seasonal turning point has ever arrived, across the full period of record

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Range ever recorded Normal date (1991–2020)
275 days
Longest growing season
1980
168 days
Shortest growing season
1874
237 days
Normal growing season
1991–2020 average

Top 10 Record Highs — September 11

# Temp Date
🏆 98°F September 11, 1983
2 97°F September 11, 1900
3 97°F September 11, 1897
4 96°F September 11, 1931
5 94°F September 11, 2013
6 94°F September 11, 1989
7 94°F September 11, 1964
8 94°F September 11, 1925
9 94°F September 11, 1912
10 94°F September 11, 1906

Top 5 Record Lows — September 11

# Temp Date
🥶 40°F September 11, 1917
2 43°F September 11, 1924
3 47°F September 11, 1913
4 47°F September 11, 1875
5 48°F September 11, 1902
About this data — Records are sourced from the NOAA Threadex dataset via RCC ACIS, a quality-controlled record for long-term climate stations. Threadex adjusts for station relocations and observation-time changes, making records comparable across all years since 1871–2026. Climate normals represent the 1991–2020 average.

Heat Wave Summary — Washington

threshold: 94°F (90th percentile of historical Jun–Aug highs)
4.0
Avg heat wave length
days (historical)
98°
Avg peak temp
during heat waves
71
Dangerous nights 2026
Overnights ≥ 70°F
1
Heat waves 2026
so far

Days ≥ 90°F Per Year

1872–2026
50
2026 so far
33
Avg/year 1970–2025
46
Avg/year (last 10 complete)
67
Most in a year (1980)

Average Daily High by Decade

Full year · complete decades only

Longest Heat Waves — Washington

# Dates Days Peak Avg High Avg Overnight Low
🏆 Jun 28, 2012 – Jul 8, 2012 11 105°F (Jul 7) 100°F 76°F
2 Aug 1, 1980 – Aug 11, 1980 11 100°F (Aug 8) 97°F 77°F
3 Aug 11, 2002 – Aug 20, 2002 10 100°F (Aug 13) 97°F 76°F
4 Jul 19, 1987 – Jul 27, 1987 9 100°F (Jul 21) 97°F 77°F
5 Jul 28, 2002 – Aug 5, 2002 9 100°F (Aug 2) 97°F 76°F
6 Jun 29, 1901 – Jul 6, 1901 8 102°F (Jul 1) 97°F 73°F
7 Aug 26, 1980 – Sep 2, 1980 8 101°F (Sep 2) 97°F 75°F
8 Aug 10, 2016 – Aug 17, 2016 8 101°F (Aug 13) 98°F 77°F
9 Aug 27, 1953 – Sep 3, 1953 8 100°F (Aug 31) 98°F 72°F
10 Jul 4, 1993 – Jul 11, 1993 8 100°F (Jul 8) 98°F 77°F

Heat Waves Per Year

Warm Summer Nights (Jun–Aug)

Nights where the overnight low exceeded the 1991–2020 normal low

47
2026 total
above-normal nights
39.0
Avg / summer
1970–2020
65
Most in a summer
2010

Above-Normal Summer Nights Per Year

Average June–August Low by Decade

Overnight lows · complete decades only

Precipitation

Annual totals and trend across the full period of record · see this year's standing →

Monthly Precipitation — Last 24 Months

Blue = actual · dashed line = monthly normal

Annual Precipitation Per Year (1871–2026)

Blue = above average · tan = below average · gold = 2026 (partial)
Since 1871, annual totals have trended -0.16" per decade, about -2.5" across the record.

Heavy Rain Days Per Year (≥ 1.0")

Compare year-to-year changes in days with heavy rainfall (≥ 1.0")

This Year — 2026

How Washington is tracking against normal, year to date

Daily High Temperature vs Normal

Above normal Below normal

127 of 253 days with data were above the 1991–2020 normal high for their date.

Precipitation, Year to Date

23.14"
2026 YTD
Normal: 29.19"
-6.05"
1.58"
September so far
September normal: 3.93"
-2.35"
3
2026 heavy rain days
Days with ≥ 1.0"

Accumulation vs. Normal

Running total since Jan 1 against the normal pace for the same date · Washington is 6.05" behind the normal pace

Period Review — Jun 1 – Aug 31, 2026

Any window, evaluated against every other year on record — 92 days

Quick picks: Last 7 days Last 30 days Last 90 days This month
Seasons: Spring (Mar–May) Summer (Jun–Aug) Fall (Sep–Nov)
79.9°F
Average temperature
8th-warmest of 155
+1.4°
vs. average
Normal: 78.5°F (1991–2020)
9.53"
Precipitation
42nd-driest of 156
-2.24"
vs. average
Normal: 11.77" · 81% of normal

Average Temperature by Year — Jun 1 – Aug 31

1872–2026 · 2026 highlighted · trend +0.33° per decade (warming since 1872)

Precipitation by Year — Jun 1 – Aug 31

1871–2026 · 2026 highlighted · trend -0.10" per decade (drier since 1871)

Warmest Jun 1 – Aug 31 on Record

# Year Avg Temp
1 2010 81.3°F
2 2011 81.1°F
3 2024 80.9°F
4 2016 80.6°F
5 2012 80.4°F
6 2020 80.2°F
7 1980 80.0°F
8 2026 79.9°F
9 2015 79.6°F
10 2019 79.5°F

Coolest Jun 1 – Aug 31 on Record

# Year Avg Temp
1 1907 71.4°F
2 1927 71.7°F
3 1903 71.7°F
4 1904 72.6°F
5 1886 72.6°F
6 1891 72.7°F
7 1889 73.0°F
8 1912 73.3°F
9 1897 73.3°F
10 1915 73.6°F

Wettest Jun 1 – Aug 31 on Record

# Year Total
1 1906 27.05"
2 1905 24.22"
3 1878 23.59"
4 1933 20.50"
5 1942 20.24"
6 2018 20.13"
7 1969 19.88"
8 1886 19.81"
9 1955 19.39"
10 1928 19.24"

Driest Jun 1 – Aug 31 on Record

# Year Total
1 1966 4.62"
2 1962 4.62"
3 1943 4.63"
4 1964 5.06"
5 1894 5.38"
6 1893 5.57"
7 1954 6.09"
8 1930 6.11"
9 1957 6.51"
10 1932 6.63"
About this data. Pick any start and end date and this becomes the same kind of review as the Month and Fall tabs, just for exactly the window you asked for — the generalized version of the same engine, evaluated across every year on record. Average temperature is the mean of each day's (high + low) / 2; precipitation is the sum of daily totals. A year missing more than about a fifth of the window's days is excluded from the temperature ranking; any missing day excludes a year from the precipitation ranking, since an unreported day is unreported rain. Ranges that cross from December into January aren't supported yet. Normals are the 1991–2020 mean for the same window.
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