D.C. can feel especially windy at times — particularly in the colder months. The data backs that up.
At Reagan National Airport, the city’s official weather station since 1945, March is the windiest month on average, with sustained winds near 10 mph. During that time of year, the most frequent wind direction is from the west-northwest, often delivering brisk, dry air.
The chart below shows how both wind speed and prevailing direction shift through the calendar year. (Arrows indicate the most common wind direction each month.)
Average wind speed and prevailing direction by month
In general, wind speeds are higher during the cooler months and lighter during summer. January through April rank as the four windiest months, each averaging around 9 mph or higher and favoring winds from the west-northwest or northwest.
By contrast, summer marks the annual lull. Average wind speeds dip to around 7 mph in August, typically the calmest month of the year.
Winds also follow a daily rhythm. Unless a strong storm system is nearby, speeds tend to increase through the day, peaking in the afternoon. In winter, that peak often comes earlier; in summer, it usually arrives later in the day.
Big gust days
Wind gusts of 50 mph or higher begin to enter the range where damage becomes more common For context, high wind warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings are typically issued for the potential of gusts at or above 58 mph.
In 2025, D.C. recorded 12 days with gusts of at least 50 mph, the most in the nearly three decades of data examined here. Whether these strong gusts are becoming more common remains unclear. However, the city and surrounding region often experience more high-wind events during La Niña winters, and there have been several in recent years.
When looking at the windiest gust days by month, the pattern is more chaotic than the monthly averages shown earlier. Averages tend to capture persistently windy periods, while the strongest gusts often come from brief but intense events, such as passing storm systems or powerful thunderstorms.
D.C.'s strongest wind gust on record of 98 mph occurred as Hurricane Hazel swept through the region in October 1954.
50-plus mph wind gust days by month
Peaks in the strongest wind gusts tend to occur in late winter to early spring and again in midsummer. The colder-season peak is often tied to large coastal storms, which are more common in February through April than earlier in winter. The summer bump aligns with the height of thunderstorm season.
Below are all wind gusts recorded since the late 1990s that have reached 58 mph or higher.
Keep in mind that summer thunderstorm gusts are often highly localized, striking small areas while missing much of the region. On rare occasions, however, widespread damaging winds can occur — such as during the June 2012 derecho, which produced gusts of 60 to more than 80 mph across much of the area.
Data from the National Weather Service, via Iowa Environmental Mesonet and local climate reports.
