Latest Summer 2021 Weather Forecasts Released For DC, NoVA

WASHINGTON, DC — With vaccinations reaching more Virginia and Washington, D.C. residents and mask mandates lifted, folks are ready to kick off summer fun. Accuweather and the Old Farmers' Almanac have released their 2021 summer forecasts.

What should people living in the metro-D.C. region expect? Well, while it’s too early to determine what each day will bring, if these outlooks are correct you should be sure to have your air conditioning charged up and the ice maker working.

Officially, summer starts on June 20, so there's plenty of time to see what sort of weather patterns set in.

The private weather company AccuWeather has released its 2021 summer weather forecast. All of the major cities along the I-95 corridor of the Northeast are predicted to experience around the same number of 90-degree days as last summer, which is near to slightly above normal.

This includes New York City and Philadelphia, both of which experienced a notably higher number of 90-degree days in 2020 compared to normal. Washington, D.C., may come close to reaching 90 degrees on 50 days in 2021, the forecast said.

While not predicted to be as busy as last year, the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be another above-average season. AccuWeather is predicting 16 to 20 named storms, 7 to 10 hurricanes and three to five storms that make landfall on the U.S. A typical season features 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three or four U.S. landfalls.

“Our biggest concern is the fact that water temperatures across the Atlantic are already warmer than normal over a larger part of the basin,” said AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski, who has been forecasting the tropics for 45 years.

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The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts that much of the D.C. area will have a hot and dry summer, while western Virginia and parts of the Tidewater region will have a cool, but dry, summer.

Across the nation, Mother Nature will bring the heat to a significant portion of the United States, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac forecast.

Temperatures are predicted to be hotter than normal in areas including the Atlantic Corridor, the eastern Great Lakes region and the Upper Midwest, south to parts of the Intermountain region. Parts of the Pacific Northwest, coastal California and Alaska may also see warmer temperatures.

In April, the Farmer's Almanac summer 2021 forecast predicted Northern Virginia and D.C. can expect stormy and sizzling from mid-summer to late in the season. What does that description mean?

The Farmers' Almanac predicts that summer temperatures will rise above normal for about two-thirds of the country, especially in the South and East. Typically, the hottest summer weather occurs in last July or early August; this year's hottest temperatures could linger into late August and early September.

The potential for severe storms will be higher than usual, as well.

RELATED: Above-Normal 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season Predicted By NOAA

Two groups of scientists also released their hurricane season forecasts this week and they call for fewer storms than last year's record, but a still active season from June 1 to Nov. 30.

The East Coast should experience an above-average Atlantic hurricane season in 2021, the NOAA Climate Prediction Center predicts.

An average season has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes — an increase of from the past, NOAA's team said.

The 2020 hurricane season brought 30 named storms.

Colorado State University hurricane researchers has also predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season in 2021, citing the likely absence of El Niño as a main factor.

The CSU Tropical Meteorology Project team predicts 17 named storms during the Atlantic hurricane season. Of those, researchers expect eight to become hurricanes and four to reach major hurricane strength (Saffir/Simpson category 3-4-5) with sustained winds of 111 miles per hour or more.