On this day in 1982, the high was a record-cold 15 degrees. The low was just 3.
“Numbing cold and frigid winds plunged the Washington area into a deep freeze yesterday, knocking out electrical power to thousands of homes, stranding droves of motorists whose cars went dead and breaking records for temperature and energy use,” The Washington Post reported the next day.
That January ranked as the eighth coldest on record, with an average temperature of 28.1 degrees. Between Jan. 10 and 27, the low dipped below 20 degrees on 14 out of 18 days, and the high eclipsed the 30s only twice.
Here are other notables for the day:
- Average high: 45
- Average low: 30
- Record high: 70 (1950)
- Record low: minus-3 (1875)
- Record precipitation: 0.97 inches (2026)
- Record snowfall: 3.8 inches (1965)
