April weather outlook for D.C. area: Warm and wet
Just like March, April is setting up to be a warmer-than-normal month with frequent slogs of showery weather.
We are calling for 4 to 5 inches of rain in April, which significantly exceeds the normal 3.55 inches. We may pick up half of that in the month’s first week. Temperatures should average between 60 and 62 degrees, which is about 2 to 4 degrees warmer than normal.
A weak to moderate El Niño climate pattern is the primary driver of the anticipated warm and wet pattern, even though it is expected to dissipate during the summer. Its presence favors a very active storm pattern through the southern and eastern United States.
El Niño also tends to elevate winter and spring temperatures, and the latest computer model simulations favor a warm and wet first and second half of April:
Early indications are that warmth will build during the second week of April after a very chilly start.
March recap
During March, the average temperature of 51.9 degrees was 4.3 degrees warmer than normal and the eighth warmest on record. The 4.89 inches of rain was 1.39 inches above normal and the most since 1998. That rain total was the 27th largest on record for March.
Advertisement
A month ago, we projected March to be 3 to 5 degrees warmer than normal and for rainfall between 4 and 6 inches, and were right on both counts.
The month featured its warmest weather during its first half, when temperatures averaged 9 degrees above normal — propelling the cherry blossoms to a nearly record-early peak bloom. Cooler weather dominated the second half of the month, which helped prolong the blossoms’ bloom period.
Only one record was set at any of the airports in the region. On March 9, Washington Dulles International Airport posted 0.99 inches of rain, a calendar-day record.
Year-to-date
With the first quarter of 2024 completed, we can easily see that this year is tracking much wetter than last year, with more than twice as much rain and not quite as much warmth:
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMSmrdOhnKtnYmV%2FdXuPbWZpaV%2BZsG65w2atmmWRpb%2BquIywnJqsmJq%2FbrvUraOop5tk