Washington, D.C
Inauguration Day Weather Likely To Be Coldest Since 1985 | Weather.com
Inauguration of Ronald Reagan, 1985, which had to be moved into the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol due to extreme cold.
(Architect of the Capitol photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)
- The presidential inauguration ceremony will take place on what could be the coldest inauguration day since 1985.
- The forecast high for Washington, D.C., is in the upper teens to low 20s.
- It is likely that Donald Trump will be inaugurated indoors due to the cold.
- The high on Inauguration Day has only been below freezing once since 1985, in 2009.
The 2025 United States Presidential Inauguration is now more likely to be moved indoors due to the coldest weather for an inauguration in 40 years for Washington, D.C., with a high in the upper teens to low 20s.
This will be the first inauguration to be held indoors in 40 years. The record for the coldest January inauguration is currently held by the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan in 1985, when the temperature at noon for the swearing-in ceremony was only 7 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
The weather for this year’s inauguration is forecast to somewhat mimic that of 1985, which took place on Jan. 21. The high temperature that day was 17 degrees, with sunny skies and afternoon wind chills in the minus 10 to minus 20-degree range. The parade was ultimately canceled, and the swearing-in ceremony had to be held indoors.
The Rotunda is prepared as the inclement weather alternative for each inauguration in the event of inclement weather, according to the Associated Press.
The 2025 Inauguration will be similarly sunny, with wind chills in the lower teens or single digits and winds gusting up to 35 mph in the afternoon. During the ceremony, the temperature will hover in the lower 20s.
Alternate plans are required for the more roughly 250,000 guests ticketed to view the inauguration from around the Capitol grounds and the tens of thousands more expected to be in general admission areas or to line the inaugural parade route from the Capitol to the White House.
Trump said some supporters would be able to watch the ceremony from Washington’s Capital One area on Monday, a day after he plans to hold a rally there. He said he would visit the arena after his swearing-in.
The current forecast high for Inauguration Day is only a couple of degrees above the current record for coldest afternoon high on Jan. 20, though it would break the record for the coldest Inauguration to take place on that date.
Only one other year had a sub-freezing high on inauguration day: Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009.
The warmest January Inauguration Day took place in 1981 for Ronald Reagan’s first inauguration, meaning Reagan’s two inaugurations hold the record for the warmest and coldest January Inauguration.
Warmer inaugurations have happened though: Before the 20th Amendment was enacted, Inauguration Day traditionally took place on March 4, which has an average high of 50.2 degrees. Jan. 20 has a cooler average high of 42.9 degrees.
The all-time record high for a U.S. presidential inauguration was set in August 1974 with the Inauguration of Gerald Ford with a high of 83 degrees, though that was a non-traditional inauguration date prompted by the resignation of Richard Nixon.
Here’s a look at some other notable inauguration day weather.
Snowiest Inauguration: William Taft, 1909
On the day of William H. Taft’s 1909 inauguration, nearly 10 inches of snow fell, setting the record for inauguration day. The snow and wind began the day before, with strong winds toppling trees and telephone poles. Trains were stalled and city streets clogged. All activity was brought to a standstill. Sanitation workers shoveled sand and snow through half the night. It took 6,000 men and 500 wagons to clear 58,000 tons of snow and slush from the parade route.

Inauguration of William H. Taft, 1909
(Library of Congress)
Fun fact: Historically speaking, there is approximately a 30% chance of snow on the ground in Washington, D.C., from a previous system for the date Jan. 20.
Worst Inauguration Day Travel: JFK, 1961
On the eve of John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961, 8 inches of snow fell causing the most crippling traffic jam of its time. Hundreds of cars were stranded and abandoned. The president-elect had to cancel dinner plans and, in a struggle to keep other commitments, is reported to have had only 4 hours of sleep. Former President Herbert Hoover was unable to fly into Washington National Airport because of the weather and missed the swearing-in ceremony. By sunrise, the snowfall had ended and the skies cleared but the day remained bitterly cold.
An army of men worked all night to clear Pennsylvania Avenue, and despite the cold, a large crowd turned out for the swearing-in ceremony and inaugural parade. At noon, the temperature was only 22 degrees with the wind blowing from the northwest at 19 mph making it feel like the temperature was just 7 degrees.
Fatal Inaugurations: William Henry Harrison, 1841, and Franklin Pierce, 1853
The weather has caused two inaugurations to have fatal implications, and the most historically significant fatality was that of William Henry Harrison in 1841. Harrison decided to brave the elements and deliver the longest inauguration speech ever, an oration lasting an hour, and 40 minutes.
It was a cloudy, cold and blustery day, and the National Weather Service has estimated the temperature at noon to be approximately 48 degrees.
Harrison, who wore neither hat nor overcoat, also rode a horse to and from the Capitol ceremony. He subsequently caught a cold that developed into pneumonia. Harrison died a month later.

Inauguration of President Franklin Pierce, 1853
(Library of Congress)
The second inauguration with a fatal effect was that of Franklin Pierce in 1853. The morning of the inauguration, there was heavy snow that continued until about half an hour before the ceremony. Skies looked to be brightening by noon, but the snow resumed shortly after Pierce took the oath of office.
The heavy snow dispersed much of the crowd and ruined plans for the parade. Abigail Fillmore, first lady to the outgoing President Millard Fillmore, sat on the cold, wet, exposed platform during Pierce’s swearing-in ceremony. She caught a cold that developed into pneumonia and died at the end of the month.
Rainiest Inauguration: Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1937
The first inauguration to be held on Jan. 20 – Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second inauguration in 1937 – also set the record for the heaviest rain on inauguration day. The day was cold and rainy, with sleet and freezing rain in the morning. Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., a period that includes the swearing-in ceremony, nearly three-quarters of an inch of rain fell.

Inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1937
(Library of Congress)
Roosevelt insisted on riding back to the White House in an open car with half an inch of water on the floor. Total rainfall for the day was 1.77 inches, which remains the rainfall record for Jan. 20.
First Outdoor Oath: James Monroe, 1817
The first seven inauguration ceremonies from 1789 to 1813 were conducted indoors, making James Monroe’s 1817 inauguration the first that was held outdoors in the weather. Luckily, it was warm and sunny that day, with an estimated temperature at noon of 50 degrees.
Sara Tonks is a content meteorologist with weather.com and has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Georgia Tech in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences along with a master’s degree from Unity Environmental University in Marine Science.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Washington, D.C
Several options at play as DC leaders consider transit for new Commanders stadium
WASHINGTON – D.C. council members and transportation leaders met for hours on Wednesday to figure out the best way to get people in and out of the new Commanders stadium.
Planning starts:
We’re just about 14 months away from the start of construction, but the conversation about transportation is well underway.
Leaders repeatedly made it clear that this transportation plan isn’t just for Commanders’ fans on eight or nine Sundays — it’s for the people who live in these neighborhoods surrounding the stadium 365 days a year.
“Even folks who were opposed to the stadium early on, they know its coming so they want it to be successful,” D.C. Councilmember and Chair of the Transportation Committee Charles Allen said.
He says success means a smooth ride for fans and everyday residents.
“It’s not having tens of thousands of people driving cars here. It’s thinking about transportation. Get people on Metro,” Allen said.
“I can imagine there’s going be a lot of cars and people trying to park so being able to alleviate that is going to be a benefit to the community,” resident Olo Olakanmi told FOX 5.
Big picture view:
The D.C. Council hearing saw representatives from the D.C. Department of Transportation, WMATA and the Commanders, as well as ANC commissioners in neighboring communities.
Allen emphasized that this is more than just a stadium — they’re also planning 6,000 to 8,000 new homes, 20,000 people living in a brand-new neighborhood.
As of now, there are two parking garages planned for the Commanders Stadium, expected to hold about 6,000 vehicles. But when it comes to transit, there are several possibilities at play.
Dig deeper:
Metro would need major upgrades to use the Stadium Armory stop — likely including adding an entrance, elevator and expanding the mezzanine.
A new Metro stop could end up costing hundreds of millions of dollars and take years to build.
WMATA is getting $2 million from the District for planning. General Manager Randy Clarke said that the goal is to have 40% of game day traffic come from public transit.
But that could also include bus rapid transit lines moving people from Union Station to the stadium along the H Street corridor.
“I have confidence we’re all going to work together and everyone has the same goal here — to make this the best possible urban sports facility and mixed-used development in the country,” Clarke said.
The plan right now is to have shovels in the ground by March 2027 and construction complete by May 2030.
“We want to make this the most transit friendly stadium but also make sure all modes of transportation are optimized for folks to get there,” DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum said.
So, a lot of these transit decisions need to be made fairly quickly.
Washington, D.C
Federal court says troops can stay in D.C., and hints at prolonged deployment
Members of the National Guard patrol along Constitution Ave. on December 01, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Heather Diehl/Getty Images North America
hide caption
toggle caption
Heather Diehl/Getty Images North America
National Guard troops can remain in Washington, D.C. while a panel of judges examines whether the deployment ordered by President Trump is legal, according to a Federal Appeals Court for Washington, D.C. ruling.
More than 2,000 troops have been deployed in the city since August, both from the District and at least 11 Republican-led states. Hundreds more were added after a targeted attack on National Guard troops killed one and wounded another last month, both of whom were from West Virginia.
The decision Wednesday upends a lower court order that troops be removed from the city.
President Trump’s deployment in Washington is the most robust long-running operation so far, in what has become a pattern of military deployments to help with policing in Democratic-led cities around the country.
Several other smaller deployments are tied up in legal battles — including Trump’s deployment to Chicago which is at the Supreme Court awaiting an emergency decision.
In today’s ruling the judges wrote that Washington, D.C.’s unique federal status allows President Trump to largely control the deployment of troops in the city. They also said the Trump administration is likely to win the overall case, which would see the deployment remain until at least the end of February 2026.
But the judges also raised serious doubts about the lawfulness of deployments of other cities. In particular, the deployment of out-of-state Guard to another state without the consent of that state’s governor — as the administration has tried to do in both Oregon and Illinois.
The opinion called such a move “constitutionally troubling to our federal system of government.”
Troops have left Los Angeles
Today’s decision comes days after a different federal appeals court ruled that troops had to leave Los Angeles on Monday.
The Ninth Circuit ruled late Friday night to uphold a ruling by a federal judge in California to end Trump’s deployment. Trump seized control of the California National Guard in June amid protests in the city and sent more than 4,000 troops there, against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wishes.
That number had since dropped to around 100, but the administration had sought to extend the federalization of the state’s Guard several times, most recently until February, saying it was still necessary.
The decision from the Ninth Circuit effectively blocked the administration from using those remaining National Guard troops in Los Angeles — but it did not force control of the troops to return to the state, leaving them under federal control for now.
All troops have left their stations in the city, according to two sources familiar with the matter who are not authorized to talk publicly. A military official who was not authorized to discuss details of a deployment publicly told NPR that the troops have been moved to a military facility in the area and are conducting training exercises.
NPR’s Tom Bowman contributed to this report from Washington.
Washington, D.C
DC leaders considering transit options for new RFK Stadium
The Commanders are set to build a new stadium in D.C., and the debate over how fans will get to and from games is happening right now. On Wednesday, city leaders will join Metro and the Washington Commanders to talk stadium transit.
-
Iowa3 days agoAddy Brown motivated to step up in Audi Crooks’ absence vs. UNI
-
Washington1 week agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa5 days agoHow much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
-
Maine2 days agoElementary-aged student killed in school bus crash in southern Maine
-
Maryland3 days agoFrigid temperatures to start the week in Maryland
-
Technology1 week agoThe Game Awards are losing their luster
-
South Dakota4 days agoNature: Snow in South Dakota
-
Nebraska1 week agoNebraska lands commitment from DL Jayden Travers adding to early Top 5 recruiting class