Dry and hot weather continues today, with daily record highs in jeopardy again. pic.twitter.com/wnLqSpa7RA
— NWS DC/Baltimore (@NWS_BaltWash) May 3, 2018
Warm start, hot finish! Today will be another record-setting one! Yesterday, all the major DC airports hit record highs: BWI 90°, IAD 88°, DCA 91° @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/i9dcO6PWi7
— Sheena Parveen (@SheenaParveen) May 3, 2018
WASHINGTON — Summer hasn’t technically begun, but Mother Nature sure didn’t get the memo.
Record-breaking heat embraced the D.C. area Thursday, with a 92-degree reading at BWI Marshall Airport as of 3:30 p.m., breaking the 1913 record of 91 degrees.
On Wednesday, Reagan National Airport recorded a high of 91 degrees, which broke the old record of 89 set back in 1930. At Dulles, Wednesday’s heat tied the 1992 record of 88.
“Usually you’d see these temperatures as you get into the dead of summer,” said Storm Team4 meteorologist Lauryn Ricketts. “We’re just having this little heat wave early this year in May.”
The heat is set to persist into Friday, and could very well result in the area’s first official heat wave weeks before Memorial Day.
The temperature is expected to hover near 90 degrees on Friday, which would challenge the record highs of 90 at BWI and Dulles, set back in 2001.
At Reagan, the record for May 4 is 93 degrees, which was set in 1928.
(A heat wave is defined as 3 days in a row or more at 90 degrees or above.)
“The thing about Friday is we’re going to have a little more cloud cover,” Ricketts said. “We’re still going to be in the low 90s, so that is going to be a close one.
The heat could cause health problems for some people.
If you’re longing for a return of spring, the good news is that the weather should be a bit cooler over the weekend and next week.
“By the weekend we’ll have a cold front that will move in through the area,” Ricketts said. “That will bring a chance of showers and bring our temperatures back down to the 70s and then we stay in the 70s through next week.”
WTOP’s Jack Pointer contributed to this report.
