Monthly Climate
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Best time to visit Washington

October is the best time to visit Washington for general sightseeing, with average highs of 20 °C and about 8 wet days. The comfortable season runs roughly April to May.

It depends what you are going for

One month rarely wins on everything. These are the best months on each measure taken on its own.

If you want Best month On that measure
Sightseeing and walking October comfort 89/100
The least cloud October 49 % average cloud cover
The least rain February 73 mm
Warmth July 31 °C
Cooler weather January 6.3 °C

Ranked by comfort

# Month Comfort / 100 Avg high Wet days
1 October 89 20 °C 8
2 May 87 24 °C 11
3 September 84 26 °C 9
4 April 81 19 °C 10
5 June 74 29 °C 12
6 August 68 30 °C 11
7 November 64 14 °C 8
8 July 63 31 °C 12
9 March 55 13 °C 10
10 December 41 8.3 °C 9
11 February 39 8.1 °C 9
12 January 32 6.3 °C 9

When to think twice

January scores lowest with about 9 wet days and highs near 6.3 °C. That does not make it a bad month — it depends entirely on what you are travelling for. The numbers are all here; the judgement is yours.

The full year

Month Avg high Rainfall Cloud
January 6.3 °C 79 mm 57 %
February 8.1 °C 73 mm 57 %
March 12.8 °C 100 mm 58 %
April 19.2 °C 87 mm 58 %
May 23.9 °C 100 mm 59 %
June 28.6 °C 91 mm 58 %
July 31.0 °C 110 mm 55 %
August 29.8 °C 98 mm 54 %
September 26.1 °C 116 mm 53 %
October 19.8 °C 89 mm 49 %
November 13.6 °C 78 mm 53 %
December 8.3 °C 91 mm 58 %

Data sources and method

Normal period
1991–2020
Dataset version
era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: comfort score, beach score, season boundaries. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.