What’s going on with this year’s weather? One day it’s scorching hot, the next day it’s storming. And this past weekend’s weather was something out of the ordinary, with rare clouds, tornado-like winds, and intense rainfall. So, is D.C. having an abnormal summer of weather compared to the last few years?
When you get down to the science nitty gritty, it’s actually not so weird of a summer in comparison to the last few years.
Let’s take a look at the last 5 years of summer rainfall in D.C.
- 2020 was record breaking with 18.75 inches of rainfall.
- 2021 saw another rainy year of 18.82
- 2022 saw a decrease in rain with only 13
- 2023 saw about the same at 12.27 inches
- 2024 was our driest summer yet with only 10.55
So what does summer 2025 look like so far?
So far, we’ve had 4.92 inches of rain in June and 4.55 inches of rain in July, compared to last year’s 4.48 and 4.52 inches.
The unpredictable weather pattern has been in part due to the rising levels of heat. For the WTOP, Allison Reilly, associate professor of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park said, “As things get hotter, more moisture is able to be held in the air. Because it’s been hotter, there’s more capacity in the air to hold water vapor. So we are seeing heavier rainfall.”
This can be more and more dangerous, especially as there are fewer FEMA resources to help in recovery. Having an emergency plan in place and keeping track of weather conditions are the perfect ways to stay prepared.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, this year is predicted to have record-breaking heat, with a slightly above-average-level of rain, which tells us that so far, the prediction is going as planned. Prepare for more humid and hot weather as the summer continues.
There are still some storms on the horizon because of the lingering stationary, which refers to when two air masses meet but neither advances, that’s still hovering over the reason, but it will probably be departing next week. Fingers crossed for some normal weather.