On Wednesday afternoon, Reagan National Airport hit 90 degrees — the latest in the year that Washington has hit 90 since recordkeeping began in 1871, when Ulysses S. Grant was in the White House.
The previous record for a late 90-degree day was Oct. 11, 1919, when D.C. hit 90 degrees. (National Airport hadn’t been built yet, and readings at the time were taken at the U.S. Weather Bureau’s city office on M Street NW in Foggy Bottom.)
The 90-degree reading came around 4 p.m. Wednesday, and, notably, it accompanied a southerly breeze. The sensor’s position is far enough out on National Airport’s peninsula that any southerly winds would blow off the Potomac. That would mean slightly cooler temperatures reaching the sensor.
To break records at National, you normally need a westerly wind.
Since recordkeeping began about 155 years ago, Washington’s average October high temperature has warmed by 3.7 degrees, largely because of human-induced climate change. Subsequently, record temperatures are now disproportionately more likely to occur.
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