Washington D.C. Climate Shift Score
District of Columbia · US States · Climate Shift score
This page ranks Washington D.C.'s own 50 year weather trend against every other live world capital, using the same full-record regression already shown on its Meteo Future Trends page. For where that trend has already gone, see the Climate Capitals trend history, or for current and historical day-to-day weather, see Meteo Capital Cities.See the full ranking of all live world capitals on the interactive map.
Score based on complete years through 2025.
Frequently asked questions about Washington D.C.'s Climate Shift Index score
How fast is Washington D.C.'s climate changing compared to other capitals?
Washington D.C. ranks 161 of 245 world capitals for how fast its climate is shifting. That places the city in the middle of the ranking. The ranking measures pace of change, not how hot or how pleasant a city is.
What is changing fastest in Washington D.C.?
The fastest-shifting variable in Washington D.C. is precipitation, at +73 mm/decade. That is the change per decade, fitted as a linear trend across 1976 to 2025, so over 50 years of measured data rather than two isolated years.
How much is Washington D.C. warming per decade?
Washington D.C. is warming at +0.23°C/decade across 1976 to 2025. Over thirty years that works out at roughly 0.7°C. The trend accounts for 19% of the variation between years; the rest is ordinary year-to-year swing.
Is Washington D.C. getting more extreme heat days?
Days above 30°C are increasing by +1.6 days/decade in Washington D.C.. On this trend that is roughly 5 days gained or lost every thirty years.
Is Washington D.C. losing its winter?
Frost days are declining by -2.7 days/decade in Washington D.C.. Frost days are often the fastest-shifting variable in this dataset: cold extremes tend to warm faster than hot ones, which bears directly on anything sized for a cold season.
What does Washington D.C.'s Climate Shift Index score actually mean?
The score folds six variables (temperature, tropical days, frost days, precipitation, sunshine hours and wind speed) into one number, converting each into a percentile against every other ranked capital. Washington D.C. scores 43.2. A low score does not mean nothing is changing, only that other capitals are shifting faster, and the score says nothing about how liveable or how warm a city is.
