Welcome to cwg.live, updated around-the-clock by Capital Weather Gang meteorologists.
Happening now: Painful wind chills start in the single digits to low teens this morning. Afternoon highs only manage the mid-20s to low 30s, and a breeze keeps wind chills in the teens and 20s.
What’s next? Very cold and clear tonight with lows in the teens. Less chilly highs near 40 Wednesday and warming to near 50 Thursday. Turning frigid again this weekend with significant winter storm potential.
🔷 CWG’s detailed D.C.-area forecast
Today’s daily digit — 3/10: Where is the dislike button? One of the coldest days of winter so far, with biting wind chill despite full sunshine. | 🤚 Your call?
The digit is a somewhat subjective rating of the day’s weather, on a 0-to-10 scale.
Forecast in detail
Today (Tuesday): Yes, we have plenty of sun today. But morning teens to low 20s, with wind chills in the single digits to low teens, are wholly unpleasant. Afternoon highs only reach the mid-20s to low 30s, and wind chills remain in the teens and 20s as winds from the west around 10 to 15 mph gust near 25 mph. This air mass is super-dry on our skin with dew points below zero! Confidence: High
Tonight: Clear with calming winds and very cold temperatures. Evening readings fall back to the low 20s and upper teens. Overnight lows range from the low teens in the outer suburbs to upper teens downtown. Winds from the northwest at 5 to 10 mph in the evening go calm overnight. Confidence: High
Tomorrow (Wednesday): Sunshine again with a very cold start in the teens, but warming into the upper 30s to low 40s for afternoon highs. Winds are light from the south in the morning, increasing to 10 to 20 mph in the afternoon with some higher gusts. Confidence: High
Tomorrow night: Partly cloudy and not as cold with lows in the upper 20s to low 30s. Confidence: High
A look ahead
Thursday is our warmest day of the week with another gift of sunny skies. Look for highs in the upper 40s to low 50s with the help of relatively mild breezes from the south or southwest. Thursday night features partly cloudy skies with lows back down into the 20s. Confidence: Medium-High
Friday returns to colder, breezy conditions with partly sunny skies. Highs should be just in the 30s to near 40 with wind chill a factor again. Friday night turns cloudy with a chance of light snow late. Lows are in the low to mid-teens. Confidence: Medium
The weekend is cloudy and frigid with potential for a winter storm. Sometime between midday Saturday and late Sunday looks to be the period of concern, but timing could still shift. Several inches or more of accumulating snow are possible, as is a miss to the south. Weekend highs are probably in the 20s at best. Some northern to western suburbs could flirt with single-digit lows. Brrr! Confidence: Low
Next week looks absolutely frigid with potentially additional snow chances. Highs in the 20s to near 30, with lows in the teens and maybe some single digits, could deliver our coldest week of this entire winter season. Confidence: Medium
Snow potential index — 6/10 (↑): Models are showing a strong signal for a significant winter storm in the Eastern U.S. this weekend. Exact track and impacts in D.C. area not yet known, but there is potential for substantial snow.
The snow potential index is a daily assessment of the potential for at least 1 inch of snow in the next week, on a 0-to-10 scale.
Today in weather history: Inauguration Day often offers a chill
On this day every four years, the weather is carefully tracked for Inauguration Day. As it coincides with the coldest time of year on average in the District, it has often been quite chilly, such as in 1961 for President John F. Kennedy, in 1985 for President Ronald Reagan and this year for President Donald Trump. See these stories on Inauguration weather from The Washington Post:
- Inauguration weather history overview
- Cold inauguration forecast forces Trump’s indoors
- Trump’s swearing-in temperature in 2025 was lowest since Reagan’s in 1985
- Reagan’s 1985 inauguration, among the coldest, was held indoors
- How a surprise snowstorm almost spoiled Kennedy’s inauguration
For more information on inauguration weather history, National Weather Service maintains a helpful website.Here are other notables for the day:
- Average high: 45
- Average low: 30
- Record high: 70 (1951)
- Record low: minus-2 (1985)
- Record precipitation: 1.77 inches (1937)
- Record snowfall: 3.8 inches (1975)
Jason Samenow contributed to this report.
