Weather in Washington in October

Prime time. If you get to pick your dates, October is the one. Highs average 20.2 °C, lows 10 °C, and rain falls on 9 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

October is the highest-scoring month of the twelve. The nearest rival is September, and the month at the other end of the year is January.

Rain on 9 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

The averages here are honest — no hidden extremes worth planning around. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest October day reached 36.1 °C and the coldest night fell to -0.7 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 122 mm — roughly 116% of the month's rain in one day.

October is moderately variable: 22 mm in the driest year against 211 mm in the wettest, around an average of 105 mm. Roughly two Octobers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 9.5 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 October sits in the year

The month is on the way down: 6.9 °C cooler than September, with November dropping another 6.7 °C. The first week and the last are not the same trip.

Daylight in October

11.3 hours of daylight, losing 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

Peak season. Expect the highest prices of the year and to be booking well ahead.

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

October in Washington versus nearby

If Washington is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Richmond is the weaker option in October — 7.2 °C cooler, 8 days more rain. Philadelphia is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days.

So: October is the answer for Washington. If it is booked out or priced out, September is the next best thing at 2 points behind, and January is the month to keep off the shortlist.

Every month in Washington

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