Weather in Washington in April

A good month. April is a solid month to be in Washington. Highs average 18.1 °C, lows 7 °C, and rain falls on 10 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

April ranks 4 of 12 in Washington: past the worst of the year but short of October, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 10 days, 3 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Nothing specialised needed — this is the month you pack for the trip rather than for the weather.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: it never really gets hot: not one day in an average April reaches 30 °C. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest April day reached 33.4 °C and the coldest night fell to -3.4 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 74 mm — roughly 80% of the month's rain in one day.

April is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest April on record still delivered 160 mm against 46 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 92 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 10.9 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 76%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How April sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 6.5 °C warmer than March, and May adds another 5 °C. Late in the month feels noticeably different from the start of it, which is worth knowing if the trip is short.

Daylight in April

13.2 hours of daylight, gaining 1.2 hours across the month. That is between Washington's extremes of 14.9 and 9.5 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 34.4 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage.

How busy it gets

Busy. Popular without being frantic; book the things you care about, improvise the rest.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

April in Washington versus nearby

If Washington is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Richmond is the weaker option in April — 6.4 °C cooler, 5 days more rain. Philadelphia is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day more rain.

So: April works, with October the better month by 7 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Washington

See all twelve months in Washington, or where else to go in April.