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The only thing ordinary with Biden’s Inauguration is the weather

Dry and cool forecast in contrast to past ceremonies

President Reagan had both the warmest inauguration in 1981 at 55° and coldest in 1985.

This Inauguration Day is unlike any other but the weather is simply ordinary.

Any given Jan. 20, Washington D.C. typically has a 30% chance for snow on the ground. But not this year.

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Unlike the showers during President Donald Trump’s inauguration, as Joe Biden will take the oath on a sunny day with a temperature at 44.

Before Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated for a second time on Jan. 20, 1937, Inaugurations previously took place March 4 to mark the day which Congress first convened after the Constitution took effect in 1789.

Weather records dating to 1937 showed it poured when President Roosevelt was sworn in.

Since then, only President Nixon and now Trump had the misfortune of a rainy inauguration. The wettest on Jan. 20 was 1.77 inches in 1937.

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There have been more snowy days compared to rain since the inauguration date was switched to January in 1937. Four incidents of snow in the past 20 inaugurations occurred with George W. Bush ’01, Kennedy ’61, Eisenhower ’51 and Roosevelt. It snowed and rained on both inaugurations for Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Eight inches of snow-covered Pennsylvania Avenue for Kennedy’s parade which was cleared just in time for the ride.

2017 will go down as the top three mildest with temperatures slightly above the average District’s high of 43 degrees.

Only five inaugurations have been below freezing.

In 1981 Reagan was sworn in on a 55-degree day, and while this was the warmest, the coldest took place on his second term with single digits forcing the ceremony indoors in 1985.


About the Author
Mark Collins headshot

After covering the weather from every corner of Florida and doing marine research in the Gulf, Mark Collins settled in Jacksonville to forecast weather for The First Coast.

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