Looking back at wild weather history for presidential inaugurations
The 2025 inauguration is moving inside due to the cold. It’s not the first time weather has impacted an inauguration.
Updated: 8:48 PM EST Jan 17, 2025
ALL RIGHT, OLIVIA, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT UPDATE THERE. WELL, IT IS ON TO PLAN B FOR THE INAUGURATION JUST THREE DAYS BEFORE THE SWEARING IN. THE INAUGURAL CEREMONY IS GOING INDOORS DUE TO THE COLD. BUT THIS ISN’T THE FIRST TIME THE ADDRESS HAS BEEN MOVED INSIDE. METEOROLOGIST ALLISON ROGERS HAS THE HISTORY OF WEATHER IMPACTS. HEY, ALLISON. HEY, CHRIS. YEAH, THIS IS ACTUALLY PRETTY INTERESTING. SO A BLAST OF ARCTIC AIR SINKING INTO THE LOWER 48 IS BRINGING MONDAY’S INAUGURATION INTO THE CAPITOL ROTUNDA. THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED SINCE THE 80S. LOOKING BACK, OUR PRESIDENTS HAVE HAD THEIR FAIR SHARE OF WILD WEATHER ON INAUGURATION DAY, JANUARY IN WASHINGTON, DC IS ABOUT WHAT YOU’D EXPECT IT TO BE COLD. THE AVERAGE HIGH ON INAUGURATION DAY IS 45 DEGREES. OF COURSE, MOTHER NATURE HAS THROWN HER FAIR SHARE OF CURVEBALLS. LOOKING BACK AT THE WEATHER HISTORY BOOKS, THE CEREMONIES HAVE GONE ON RAIN OR SHINE, HOT OR COLD. MOST NOTABLY IN 1841 WHEN PRESIDENT WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON WAS SWORN IN ON A BLUSTERY DAY GIVING AN HOUR AND 40 MINUTE SPEECH, AND RODE HORSEBACK WITHOUT A HAT OR AN OVERCOAT, PRESIDENT HARRISON DEVELOPED PNEUMONIA AFTER CATCHING A COLD THAT DAY, AND TRAGICALLY DIED ONE MONTH LATER. THE FIRST PRESIDENT TO DIE IN OFFICE. IN 1909, PRESIDENT TAFT CEREMONY MOVED INSIDE THANKS TO A SNOWSTORM DROPPING TEN INCHES OF SNOW IN D.C., 58,000 TONS OF SNOW AND SLUSH WERE CLEARED FROM THE PARADE ROUTE. THE WARMEST INAUGURATION ON THE TRADITIONAL JANUARY 20TH DATE WAS IN 1981, WHEN RONALD REAGAN WAS SWORN IN ON A BALMY 55 DEGREE DAY BY RONALD REAGAN. DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR. IRONICALLY, THE COLDEST INAUGURATION WAS JUST FOUR YEARS LATER, WHEN PRESIDENT REAGAN PUBLICLY TOOK THE OATH FOR A SECOND TIME. THAT MORNING STARTED OFF AT FOUR DEGREES BELOW ZERO. BY NOON, IT WAS JUST SEVEN DEGREES, AND WIND CHILLS RANGED FROM TEN DEGREES BELOW 0 TO 20 DEGREES BELOW ZERO. NOT ONLY WAS THE SWEARING IN HELD INDOORS, THE PARADE WAS CANCELED, AND SINCE THAT SWEARING IN THE COLDEST NOON TEMPERATURE WAS 28 DEGREES WITH WIND CHILLS IN THE MID TEENS. AND THAT WAS IN 2009 FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA.
Looking back at wild weather history for presidential inaugurations
The 2025 inauguration is moving inside due to the cold. It’s not the first time weather has impacted an inauguration.
Updated: 8:48 PM EST Jan 17, 2025
January in Washington, D.C. is about what you’d expect it to be: cold. The average high on Inauguration Day is 45 degrees. Of course, Mother Nature has thrown her fair share of curve balls. Looking back at the weather history books, the ceremonies have gone on rain or shine, hot or cold.Most notably, in 1841, President William Henry Harrison was sworn in on a blustery day. He gave an hour and 40-minute speech and rode horseback without a hat or overcoat. Harrison developed pneumonia after catching a cold that day, and tragically died one month later. He’s the first president to die in office.In 1909, President William Howard Taft’s ceremony moved inside thanks to a snowstorm dropping 10 inches of snow in Washington. Around 58,000 tons of snow and slush were cleared from the parade route.The warmest inauguration on the traditional Jan. 20 date was in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was sworn in on a balmy 55-degree day. Ironically, the coldest inauguration was just four years later, when President Ronald Reagan publicly took the oath for a second time. The morning started off at 4 below zero. By noon, it was just 7 degrees, and wind chills ranged from -10 to -20 degrees. Not only was the swearing-in held indoors, but the parade was also canceled.Since that swearing-in, the coldest noon temperature was 28 degrees with wind chills in the mid-teens. That was in 2009 for President Barack Obama.
WASHINGTON —January in Washington, D.C. is about what you’d expect it to be: cold.
The average high on Inauguration Day is 45 degrees.
Of course, Mother Nature has thrown her fair share of curve balls. Looking back at the weather history books, the ceremonies have gone on rain or shine, hot or cold.
Most notably, in 1841, President William Henry Harrison was sworn in on a blustery day. He gave an hour and 40-minute speech and rode horseback without a hat or overcoat. Harrison developed pneumonia after catching a cold that day, and tragically died one month later. He’s the first president to die in office.
In 1909, President William Howard Taft’s ceremony moved inside thanks to a snowstorm dropping 10 inches of snow in Washington. Around 58,000 tons of snow and slush were cleared from the parade route.
The warmest inauguration on the traditional Jan. 20 date was in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was sworn in on a balmy 55-degree day.
Ironically, the coldest inauguration was just four years later, when President Ronald Reagan publicly took the oath for a second time. The morning started off at 4 below zero. By noon, it was just 7 degrees, and wind chills ranged from -10 to -20 degrees. Not only was the swearing-in held indoors, but the parade was also canceled.
Since that swearing-in, the coldest noon temperature was 28 degrees with wind chills in the mid-teens. That was in 2009 for President Barack Obama.
