Of all the temperatures that affect our lives and characterize our winters, probably the most significant is 32 degrees, the one that separates a wet road from an icy one and permits us to accurately complain: “It’s freezing!”In Washington, the news is that it has not been freezing for a good while, long enough to set a record for January, historically Washington’s coldest month. Not once between Jan. 10 and 9 p.m. Friday has the mercury dipped to 32 at Reagan National Airport, where official D.C. readings are made. At least 16 full days have passed since the morning of Jan. 10, when the low was 22. Meanwhile, huge crowds have assembled here, all of them on above-freezing days. If Friday finishes without a temperature of 32 or lower, then the record, for a period dating to 1872, will be extended to 17 days.

Source: Washington Post January 28, 2017 02:25 UTC