Northern Virginia weather and the four seasonsRain, humidity, snow and what to expect in 2026

• 

  Spring

  Fast and fresh

  March to May, from the last freeze

  Average highs climb from about 55°F in March to 75°F in May at Dulles. Cherry blossoms open, tree pollen follows, and May is the wettest month at Dulles, with 4.72 inches.¹

  April high

  66.8° / 68.0°

  Last freeze, average

  Apr 19 / Mar 24

  Cherry blossom peak, 2026

  Mar 26

• 

  Summer

  Hot, humid, stormy

  Late May to mid-September

  Weather Spark's model puts the hot season, when average highs top 78°F, at about May 30 to September 16.⁵ Expect muggy air and late-afternoon thunderstorms, with July the peak for both.⁶

  July high

  87.6° / 89.6°

  90°F days a year

  33 / 40

  Muggy days in July (model)

  About 19

• 

  Fall

  Clear and golden

  Mid-September to the first freeze

  The heat breaks and the nights cool. Weather Spark's model calls September the clearest month of the year.⁵ Leaves peak in the last third of October, and the first freeze follows.⁷

  October high

  67.8° / 69.4°

  First freeze, average

  Oct 19 / Nov 17

  Peak color

  Oct 20 to 31

• 

  Winter

  Cold, with a few storms

  December to February

  January is the coldest month and February the snowiest, by a hair: 7.0 inches at Dulles against January's 6.9. Most winters bring a handful of snow days, and a big storm every few years.^1,8

  January low

  25.2° / 30.1°

  Snow a year

  21.0" / 13.7"

  Nights at 20°F or colder

  25 / 10

Freeze dates are Capital Weather's averages for each airport.^9,10 Weather Spark figures come from its model, which blends NASA reanalysis data with the local airport stations, and are labeled as such. Peak color is the Virginia Department of Forestry's range for eastern Virginia, which includes Northern Virginia.

Northern Virginia has a cooler, snowier west and a warmer, river-tempered east. Which one you live in shows up in the heating bill, the snow shovel and the garden.

Ahmed Makkiyah

A dot means no measurable snow in the normals for that month. Rain days come from NOAA station records through the Regional Climate Centers' ACIS system, the same data behind the National Weather Service's NOWData tool.³

Snow-day frequencies are the National Weather Service's averages over each station's full record; 12-inch storms count three-day totals, since 1962 at Dulles and since 1884 in Washington.⁸ A rate of 0.8 days a year means it happens in about 4 years out of 5. Over 1991 to 2020 alone, Dulles averaged 5.2 days a year with an inch or more and National 3.7.³

The storms people still talk about

• February 5 to 6, 2010

  Snowmageddon

  32.4"

  The biggest storm on record at Dulles; 17.8 inches at National. February 2010 brought Dulles 46.1 inches, its snowiest month ever, and 45.7 of them fell in the first ten days.^8,12

• January 22 to 23, 2016

  Snowzilla

  29.3"

  The second-biggest storm at Dulles, with 22.1 inches on January 23 alone. National measured 17.8 inches, a total a NOAA review later confirmed.^8,13

• January 6 to 8, 1996

  The Blizzard of '96

  24.6"

  At Dulles, with 17.3 inches at National.⁸

• January 27 to 29, 1922

  The Knickerbocker storm

  28.0"

  Washington's biggest storm of all, measured before either airport kept records.⁸

• June 29, 2012

  The derecho

  1.2 million

  Customers without power in the D.C. area alone. Gusts reached 71 mph at Dulles and 70 at National, and a power failure at a key communications site knocked out 911 service in Northern Virginia for a time.¹⁸

• June 1972

  Agnes

  11.88"

  Of rain in 24 hours at Dulles, 5.74 of it in six hours.¹⁷

• September 1996

  Fran

  3 ft+

  Of water in the streets of Old Town Alexandria, partly evacuated during record Potomac flooding.¹⁷

• September 2003

  Isabel

  2 million+

  Without power, with a storm surge 6 to 8 feet above normal up the Chesapeake and Potomac.¹⁷

• September 6 to 9, 2011

  Remnants of Tropical Storm Lee

  6.57"

  In six hours in Reston, with 12 inches or more in many places. The Beltway, I-66 and the George Washington Parkway flooded, and hundreds of people were evacuated in Fairfax and Prince William.¹⁹

• July 8, 2019

  The one-hour flood

  3.30"

  Of rain in one hour at National, the most since at least 1948 and roughly a 1-in-100 chance in any year.²⁰

What I check when a client is buying

1. Grading and drainage

   The ground should slope away from the foundation and the downspouts should carry water well clear of it. Tropical remnants and one-hour cloudbursts are how basements here get wet.

2. The sump pump and the basement

   Is there a pump, does it run, and does it have a battery backup? Look for stains, fresh paint low on the walls and dehumidifiers, and check the FEMA flood map.

3. The roof, the eaves and the trees

   Ask the roof's age and whether ice shield runs along the eaves, as Fairfax's code requires. Note big trees leaning over the house: thunderstorm winds do most of the damage here.

4. HVAC age and type

   Get the age of the heat pump or furnace and air conditioner and the service records. Out west, ask how the system handles the coldest nights.

5. Backup power

   After the 2012 derecho left about 1.2 million customers dark, a generator, a transfer switch or at least a backup for the sump pump is worth a look.

6. Termites, decks and footings

   Termite risk is rated moderate to heavy, so get a wood-destroying insect inspection. On older decks, ask whether the footings were permitted at 24 inches.

Selling? Do the same list first. Fix drainage, service the heating and cooling, and gather the roof and HVAC receipts; the buyer's inspector will ask about all of it.