Not surprisingly, this past winter was Washington’s warmest astronomical winter on record.
An astronomical winter is based on the position of the Earth on its orbit around the sun and is considered to take place between Dec. 21 and March 20.
This past astronomical winter averaged 45.6 degrees, two degrees above the previous record set in 1989-1990, according to the National Weather Service.
The number of days the temperature dropped to 32 or below also set a record. Measured by Reagan National Airport, the temperature only reached those lows 24 of the 89 days in the season.
Due to the warm winter, the cherry blossoms' peak blooming period was pushed up to March 20-23. The average is April 4.
