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Freezing temperatures are expected during Trump's second inauguration

Fog hovers over the dome of the U.S. Capitol in Dec., 2024.
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
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Getty Images North America
Fog hovers over the dome of the U.S. Capitol in Dec., 2024.

When President-elect Donald Trump takes his oath of office on Monday, it will be during an unusually brisk Inauguration Day, with temperatures expected to be about 20 degrees colder than normal for this time of year.

The high temperature for the day is projected to be below freezing at 23 degrees, as Trump takes his second term in office, while the low for the day may drop to just 10 degrees.

Trump's return to Washington will mark the coldest Inauguration Day in 40 years, since President Reagan's swearing-in in 1985, when temperatures were a chilly 7 degrees , but described as "sunny, but bitter cold."

When Trump first took the presidential oath in 2017, the weather was pretty normal for the day, with a temperature of 48 degrees, although ceremony attendees had to deal with light rain throughout the day.

The good news for those attending the event this year is that no precipitation is expected on Inauguration Day itself, although snow and rain are possible the afternoon prior.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Corrected: January 17, 2025 at 3:38 PM EST
An earlier version of this story misspelled Ronald Reagan's last name as Regan.
Alana Wise
Alana Wise is a politics reporter on the Washington desk at NPR.
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