Best time to visit Washington

Washington is a city of two halves. October scores 81 and January scores 30 — a 51-point swing, which is the difference between a holiday and an endurance test. The month you pick matters more here than almost anywhere. 4 of the twelve months sit within ten points of the best, so there is more than one right answer.

July is the warmest month at 31.1 °C and January the coolest at 4.8 °C — a 26.3 °C spread across the year. Around 55 days a year top 30 °C, concentrated in July and the months either side. At the other end, 86 nights a year fall below freezing: the winter here is a real one.

There is a real wet season here. May to August carry the rain — up to 14 wet days in a month — while January, February, March, October, November and December drop as low as 8. That 6-day gap is the biggest single difference between a good month and a bad one in Washington, and it moves further than the temperature does.

Daylight runs from 9.5 hours in winter to 14.9 in summer, enough to notice on a sightseeing itinerary.

The three strongest months are October, September, May. The one to think twice about is January. Each month below has its own page with rainfall reliability, extremes, daylight and crowd levels.

Washington month by month