Elsewhere locally, high temperatures continue to scorch. So far, Dulles International Airport has reached 100 degrees, breaking the previous record of 99 degrees set in 1988. Baltimore’s BWI Marshall Airport has reached at least 101 degrees, breaking the previous record of 100 degrees set in 1988.
This ended a streak of 2,867 days in Washington without temperatures reaching or exceeding 100 degrees, the fifth-longest streak in the city’s recent record and the longest streak since the eight-year streak from 1969 to 1977. Other places in the region have topped 100 degrees more recently than Washington, including Dulles, which topped 100 degrees on Sept. 6 of last year.
it is City This was the 122nd time a 100 degree day was observed since modern records began in 1872. Roughly 16 percent of DC’s 100 degree days occur in June, 54 percent in July, 27 percent in August, and 3 percent in September.
It also marked the sixth consecutive day that high temperatures reached 90 degrees or higher, the eighth day in the past 10 days and nine days in total this season.
That’s about two days above average so far this year, and a sharp recovery from a “season of the 90s” that saw the first three months of the month see several days below average. The city averages 40 such days over the entire warm season, with seven of those likely to occur in June.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen clusters of 100-degree days. In recent years, the most ever in a single year was four in 2016, eight in 2012, five in 2011, four in 2010, and 11 in 1930. There’s likely to be another attempt on Sunday, and maybe even Wednesday. All of this before temperatures peak above 100 degrees in the city. The weather service has predicted that July will likely be hotter than normal.
The long hiatus in the 100s comes after a historic three-year streak of 17 records between 2010 and 2012. There has been a break in records from 2016 to the present, but as the planet warms due to human-made climate change, more days above 100 are expected to occur annually.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Washington DC was 106 degrees, recorded in July 1930 and August 1918.
