It isn’t winter yet but Friday seemed to give a good idea of what it could be like, as brisk winds buffeted Washington, giving teeth to the bite of cold temperatures.
The wind and cold may have prevented full appreciation of the day’s bright moments. At times the remnants of autumn’s golden leaves seemed perfectly placed to intercept the flat rays of the late November sun and blaze like jewels under a spotlight.
But as of 5 p.m., the high temperature for the day in Washington was 44 degrees, which is not too high. The low was 32, the well known point at which water freezes.
The average of those two was 38 degrees. It is not a warm temperature, and it turned out to be one degree colder than Washington’s coldest previous average this season. That came on Nov. 11, when the average of high and low was 39.
Added to the decline in the amount of daylight — one of autumn’s somber realities — the wind and the temperature reawakened dormant memories of winter and its rigors.
The winter solstice, which is Dec. 21 this year, remained three weeks and two days away. But, of course, it will come. And if the temperatures failed to convey that message, the wind made certain it was not missed.
For a sustained period, the northwest wind reached 26 mph. One gust was clocked at 40 mph,
The ever-present plastic tape that festoons the city vibrated furiously in the onrush of air. Tree branches, even those bereft of leaves, rose and fell rapidly. Road signs, their flat surfaces pushed hard against their fastenings, seemed barely to escape being torn down.
For much of the day, the wind chill temperatures remained below the freezing point. Early in the day it was the cold, the actual freezing temperatures, that seemed to contribute the most to the wind chill.
Later, as the sun became more evident, and temperatures inched up a bit, it was the wind that seemed the more prominent partner in creating wind chill.
As streets sunk into shadow ever earlier, the sense of the city seemed in many ways transformed. From only recently displaying the multicolored splendors of autumn, Washington now seemed under orders to prepare for dark winter.
Of course, a single day may have a dozen faces, and darkness and cold were far from Friday’s only features.
When the sun did escape the clouds, and shine upon the city, its effects could not be avoided or ignored. At moments, certain windows became brilliant mirrors, and those leaves that still clung to trees flaunted their multicolored survival against a blue sky.
The post On Washington’s coldest day of the season, it was also windy appeared first on Washington Post.
