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Residents who stepped outside Wednesday afternoon into near-summer warmth and watched temperatures crater through Thursday morning — only to see sleet and snow arrive by midday — were not imagining the whiplash. Official federal records now confirm it in full.
At 5:33 p.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington office issued a formal Record Event Report stating that a record daily high of 86 degrees was set at Washington National on March 11, breaking the previous March 11 record of 79 degrees set in 2021 — the second straight day to set a record high. The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang reported it was the earliest such heat ever observed in the District.
The warmth had been building all week. NOAA climatological data for Reagan National shows temperatures reached 76 degrees on both March 8 and 9, climbed to 84 degrees March 10 and peaked at the record 86 degrees March 11 — a four-day surge running nearly 20 to 26 degrees above normal.
The heat also fueled severe weather. On Wednesday evening, a complex of potent thunderstorms roared through the District's northern suburbs, triggering tornado warnings across Montgomery, southern Frederick, southern Carroll and northern Howard counties, the Post reported. The storms toppled trees and knocked out power to thousands.
Then the atmosphere reversed course.
The NWS Washington National DC Climate Summary for March 12, issued at 2:31 a.m. Friday, documents what followed. The day's maximum temperature — 78 degrees, recorded at 12:44 a.m. — came in the middle of the night. Temperatures were still 77 degrees at 1 a.m. as the cold front approached. The front blasted through early Thursday, with winds gusting over 40 mph and temperatures dropping from the 70s into the 40s between 5 and 9 a.m. But more was still to come. By 2 p.m. Thursday, a stationary band of precipitation had developed behind the front, and the thermometer had bottomed out at 33 degrees — a plunge of 53 degrees in about 22 hours from Wednesday's record high.
According to the Capital Weather Gang, that is the largest 24-hour temperature drop recorded at Reagan National Airport — the official weather observation station for the Alexandria and Washington region, located in neighboring Arlington — since observations began there in 1945. The only known larger swing in the Washington area's history occurred Jan. 28-29, 1934, when temperatures fell from 65 to 11 degrees under downtown observations.
The NWS recorded six distinct precipitation types at Reagan National on Thursday: rain, light rain, snow, light snow, sleet and fog. Winds reached 30 mph sustained from the north, with gusts topping 43 mph from the northwest. Total precipitation measured 0.47 inches, with 0.1 inches of snowfall at the airport. Alexandria recorded 0.6 inches of snow, according to the Post. Relative humidity swung from 96 percent at 2 p.m. to 36 percent by 10 p.m.
The District had never previously recorded accumulating snow the day after a temperature as high as 86 degrees, the Capital Weather Gang reported. The 77-degree reading at 1 a.m. was also the warmest temperature ever recorded on a day with accumulating snow in Washington.
Shortly after the snow stopped, skies rapidly cleared. Within an hour, the sun broke through and temperatures jumped about 10 degrees. By sunset, most of the snow had melted.
What comes next
The forecast ahead offers little seasonal consistency, though nothing approaching this week's extremes appears imminent.
According to the NWS detailed forecast for Alexandria as of 7:53 a.m. Friday, today's high is expected near 56 degrees with mostly cloudy skies clearing to sunshine by afternoon and south winds gusting to 32 mph. Tonight stays mostly clear with a low around 42 degrees.
Saturday and Sunday look relatively calm: mostly sunny with a high near 58 degrees Saturday, then mostly cloudy near 61 degrees Sunday. Both nights settle around 42 degrees.
The pattern shifts sharply next week. The NWS is forecasting a 90 percent chance of showers Sunday night, with Monday bringing rain throughout the day and possible thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Monday's high is projected near 72 degrees before temperatures fall again overnight to around 34 degrees — another potential 38-degree single-day swing. Precipitation probability on Monday stands at 100 percent.
After Monday's system clears, a quieter stretch reasserts itself: mostly sunny near 43 degrees Tuesday, 45 degrees Wednesday, climbing toward 54 degrees by Thursday.
