Washington, D.C
From Northern Lights to the Solar Eclipse – here’s DC’s 2024 natural phenomena coverage
WASHINGTON – The Washington, D.C. region has experienced quite an eventful year for weather and natural phenomena – and there is surely more ahead as we get ready to enter the second half of the year.
Here’s a look back at what we’ve seen so far in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia:
Rockville Earthquake
Earthquake reported in Rockville, Maryland
A small earthquake was reported early Tuesday morning in Rockville, Maryland, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A small earthquake rattled the DMV during the first few days of 2024! The 2.3 magnitude quake was centered in the Rockville area. No damage or injuries – but it shook us up!
January Heat Record
Record-breaking heat in DC
D.C. saw its first 80°F reading ever in January on Friday. FOX 5 meteorologist has the details and your weekend forecast.
D.C. set a heat record when we saw our first 80°F reading ever in January, breaking a mark set in 2018.
Snowy DMV Winter
Snow totals for DC, Dulles, and BWI: 1st inch of DC snow in 728 days
It’s official! For the first time in nearly two years, over an inch of snow was recorded in Washington D.C.!
We had a below average winter when it comes to snowfall this year with only about 8 inches hitting the ground. While we didn’t get a historic blizzard, we did get some memorable snow days. – like in January when we saw over an inch of snow hit the ground for the first time in nearly two years!
Meteor Spotted Over Maryland
Meteor spotted over Maryland
Did you see it? A meteor was spotted over Maryland Wednesday night. Video courtesy of Donald Bradner.
Hundreds up and down the East Coast, including many in the D.C. region, reported seeing a meteor flash across the sky back in February.
Solar Eclipse 2024
Air and Space Museum holds eclipse watch event
Hundreds gathered at National Mall this afternoon to watch the historic solar eclipse. FOX 5’s Bob Barnard is out talking with DC residents and visitors about the exciting event.
People gathered at the National Mall in D.C., and in parts of Maryland and Virginia to watch the historic solar eclipse in April.
Solar Storms
In May, severe solar storms caused some to have GPS problems, and satellite communication issues.
Northern Lights
Virginia sees rare glimpse of Northern Lights
The aurora borealis was visible from higher elevation in parts of Virginia Thursday night.
Also, in May, some near our area were able to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights.
Wildfire Smoke
Canada’s wildfire smoke could impact DC region again
Right now, wildfires are burning across Canada, and over the course of the summer, that could be problematic for the District, Maryland, and Virginia. FOX 5’s Josh Rosenthal spoke to a climatologist about the issue.
Wildfires burning across Canada continued to cause problems in the Washington, D.C. region earlier this year.
Tornado Leaves 5 Injured
EF-1 tornado rips through Virginia; 5 injured
The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down in Rixeyville, Virginia, on Sunday night, and five people who were likely taking cover in a shed were injured.
Recently, a tornado in Virginia left five people injured as severe weather moved across the area. The tornado formed from a rotating severe thunderstorm that was detected by Doppler radar in Sterling, Virginia.
Moon Will ‘Kiss’ Saturn
Featured
Moon will ‘kiss’ Saturn on May 31 and other summer sky events to watch
On May 31, sky lovers can witness a stunning celestial event as the Moon will appear to “kiss” Saturn in the southeastern sky just before dawn, offering a rare and captivating visual spectacle for amateur astronomers and stargazers, with several other noteworthy celestial events occurring this year.
Looking ahead, sky lovers are in for a celestial treat on May 31, as the Moon will appear to “kiss” Saturn in a stunning conjunction event. This phenomenon occurs when the Moon and Saturn pass close to each other in the sky, creating a captivating visual spectacle.
Washington, D.C
12th Honor Flight Tallahassee returns home from successful trip to Washington D.C.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Seventy-two veterans took a trip Saturday to our nation’s capital to visit memorials honoring their service in the armed forces.
This year marks the 12th trip to Washington, D.C. for Honor Flight Tallahassee.
Early Saturday morning, veterans and their guardians met to take a charter flight up to D.C.
Throughout the day, veterans were taken to the World War II memorial, as well as the Korean and Vietnam War memorials. The veterans also visited Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
More Tallahassee news:
The day ended with a wonderful welcome home celebration.
Our Jacob Murphey, Julia Miller, Taylor Viles, and Grace Temple accompanied the veterans, capturing moments from throughout the day.
The team will have live coverage from Washington, D.C. on Monday to share more from the day’s events.
We will continue to have coverage throughout the month of May, leading up to our Honor Flight special on Memorial Day.
To keep up with the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Nextdoor and X (Twitter).
Have a news tip or see an error? Write to us here. Please include the article’s headline in your message.
Be the first to see all the biggest headlines by downloading the WCTV News app. Click here to get started.
Copyright 2026 WCTV. All rights reserved.
Washington, D.C
Storm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week
4 things to know about the weather:
- Chances of rain in the morning
- Gusty Sunday
- Chilly Monday
- Temps will rise again through the work week
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
After a nice and warm Saturday, changes arrive for part two of the weekend.
The first half of your Sunday will have a chance for showers. Winds will pick up with our next system and are expected to gust to about 20-30 mph. Cooler air will settle in, and lows Sunday night fall into the 40s.
Highs temps Monday will reach only into the mid to upper 50s.
However, temperatures will rise through the week, so you won’t need your jackets every day.
QuickCast
SUNDAY:
Showers, then partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 30 mph
HIGH: Lower 60s
MONDAY:
Partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 25 mph
HIGH: Upper 50s
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
Washington, D.C
‘It’s a twilight zone’: Iran war casts deep shadows over IMF gathering in Washington
The most severe energy shock since the 1970s, the risk of a global recession and households everywhere stomaching a renewed surge in the cost of living – hitting the most vulnerable hardest.
In a sweltering hot Washington DC this week, the message at the International Monetary Fund meetings was chilling: things had been looking up for living standards around the world. But then came the Iran war.
“Some countries are in panic,” said the fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, addressing the finance ministers and central bank bosses in town for the IMF and World Bank spring meetings. “The sooner it [the Iran war] ends, the better for everybody.”
Such gatherings are not typically used to fight geopolitical battles. “You don’t get people shouting at one another at these things,” one senior figure remarked. But, as a record-breaking April heatwave swept the US capital, no one could ignore the mounting damage from the Iran war.
Those familiar with the mood over breakfast at a meeting of the G20’s representatives on Thursday, which included Donald Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and the outgoing US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell – said the atmosphere in the room was sombre amid an open exchange of serious views.
“It is such a twilight-zone meeting,” said Mohamed El-Erian, a former IMF deputy managing director who is now chief economic adviser at the Allianz insurance group. “There are several shadows hanging over it: one is the shadow that comes from concern about the global economy as a whole.
“The second is that some countries are going to be particularly hard hit, and it’s mostly countries that very few people are talking about. But the third concern is the adding of insult to injury: the fact that the US, which started a war of choice, is going to be hit, but by a lot less than elsewhere in relative terms.”
Before Thursday’s breakfast, Rachel Reeves had started her day with an early-morning jog. Joined by her counterparts from Spain, Australia and New Zealand for a run down the iconic National Mall, she posted an Instagram selfie with a not-so-subtle dig: “Friends that run together – work together.”
A day earlier, the chancellor had told a CNBC conference that she thought “friends are allowed to disagree on things” as she criticised Trump’s Iran war as a “mistake” and a “folly” that had not made the world safer.
Speaking at a venue just steps away from the White House, before a one-on-one meeting with Bessent, she said this “fair message” was needed because UK families and businesses were feeling the pain from higher energy prices triggered by the conflict.
Those close to Reeves insist her meeting remained cordial. Britain and the US have significant shared interests in AI, financial services and trade. The chancellor also said the UK government had little time for the Iranian regime.
But with the IMF having warned on Tuesday that the Iran war could risk a global recession – in which Britain would be the biggest G7 casualty – it was clear Reeves had travelled to Washington ready to pick a fight.
“I’m struck by how vocal she has been and the words she used,” said one global financier. “We know the disagreement between Bessent and [European Central Bank president] Christine Lagarde earlier in the year. But that was in private.”
At a cocktail party held at the British ambassador’s residence for hundreds of diplomats and financiers – including the Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of Barclays, CS Venkatakrishnan, and dozens of senior figures – this transatlantic tension, weeks before King Charles’s US state visit, was a major topic of conversation.
The other, in the balmy residence gardens, was one of its former occupants, Peter Mandelson, as revelations about the former ambassador’s appointment threatened to further rock the UK government.
Before the war, the agenda for the IMF had been about global cooperation; the adoption of AI, jobs and work to eradicate poverty. Each of those tasks had now been complicated, but not least the task of countries working together.
For many at the meetings, the focus was on forging closer global cooperation without the world’s pre-eminent superpower.
“Everybody is talking about how you hedge against American decisions,” said David Miliband, the former UK foreign secretary, who now runs the International Rescue Committee. “You can’t do without them, because they’re 25% of the global economy. But, in a lot of fora, they’ve pulled out.
“So everyone has to think, how does one structure international cooperation? The old west is not coming back. And so everyone has to figure out how to position themselves for that world.”
For those gathering in Washington, there was irony in the fact that they were meeting in the halls of institutions founded, under US leadership, to promote global cooperation after the second world war. The whole idea of the Bretton Woods institutions was to avoid the dire economic conditions and warfare of the 1930s and 1940s. Yet this year’s meeting was taking place amid these intertwining problems.
In their conversations about the best economic policy response to the shock of conflict, the economists also knew the real power to make a difference lay two blocks across town from the IMF and the World Bank – behind the security cordons and construction equipment blocking the White House from public view. “It is not clear they can do anything about it,” said El-Erian.
Still, with a booming economy driven by AI – including Anthropic’s powerful Mythos model, the topic of much conversation – most countries cannot afford to completely break off US ties.
“People want to find ways to insulate themselves from the mess. But, on the other hand, they admire the US private sector,” El-Erian said. “The best way I’ve heard it put, is: they want to go long the private sector and short the mess. But it’s almost impossible to do.”
-
Vermont5 minutes agoVermont lawmakers reject digital lottery initiative – Valley News
-
Virginia11 minutes agoVirginia’s special election redistricting battle is next week and has national impacts
-
Washington17 minutes ago
The Church of Jesus Christ has announced its 384th temple
-
Wisconsin23 minutes agoWisconsin authorities put total arrests from clashes at beagle breeding facility at about 25
-
West Virginia29 minutes agoThis week in West Virginia history: April 19-25
-
Wyoming35 minutes agoIdaho semitruck driver involved in fatal accident at Wyoming FlyingJ – East Idaho News
-
Crypto41 minutes agoUpcoming ‘Bitcoin’ Movie With Casey Affleck, Gal Gadot Probes Satoshi’s Identity
-
Finance47 minutes agoHong Kong reasserts role as safe haven in global finance amid Iran conflict