By Associated Press
On average, the normal high is 43 degrees and the normal low is 28 but that’s just around dawn. There have been 19 traditional January inaugurations and only two were colder: Ronald Reagan’s second in 1985 was a frigid 7 with subzero wind chills and John F. Kennedy’s in 1961 was a snowy 22. Jimmy Carter’s 1977 inauguration also was 28.
And then there is the general warming trend Washington has been stuck in. The last time the nation’s capital stayed below freezing all day was Jan. 22, 2011. The city has gone more than 700 days since receiving two or more inches of snow.
Extreme cold on Inauguration Day, folklore says, can be a killer.
In 1841, newly elected president William Henry Harrison stood outside without a coat or hat as he spoke for an hour and 40 minutes. He caught a cold that day and it became pneumonia; he died one month after being sworn in. Twelve years later, outgoing first lady Abigail Fillmore got sick from sitting outside on a cold, wet platform as Franklin Pierce was inaugurated; she died of pneumonia at the end of the month. Doctors now know that pneumonia is caused by germs, but prolonged exposure to extreme cold weather may hurt the airways and make someone more susceptible to getting sick.
And there’s one thing Washington’s history shows. Bad weather generally creates bad traffic jams. John F. Kennedy found that out in his 1961 inauguration when 8 inches of snow fell overnight and crippled the city for what at that time was Washington’s worst traffic jam. Thousands of cars were abandoned in the snow.