The average weather for noon on January 20 in washington, D.C. is 37 degrees F, wind 10 m.p.h., and partly cloudy. Tomorrow’s forecast for President-Elect Donald Trump's inauguration day is about average except that a light rain is almost certain.

The best weather day

Until James Monroe was sworn into office in 1817 the ceremony was held indoors.

The warmest was 1981 which was probably the best weather day where Ronald Reagan took the oath on a balmy (for winter in Washington) 55 degrees F. Zeus (Jupiter), the god of the sky and weather wasn’t quite as happy with President Reagan when he took the oath for his second term in 1985 (since the oath doesn’t mention any term, legally the second oath probably is meaningless) because it was the coldest January inauguration day, a freezing 7 degrees F.

at noon with a stiff wind that made it feel like 20 below.

The most dramatic weather days

But as bad as Reagan’s second oath taking was, it can’t really compare to 1841 when William Henry Harrison spoke for one hour and 40 minutes sans coat or hat, then rode a horse to and from the ceremony, and died a month later from pneumonia he contracted that day.

In 1853 Franklin Pierce had heavy snow up until a half hour before noon, then resumed just as he started his inaugural address.outgoing First Lady Abigail Fillmore was the one who contracted pneumonia that day and she died a month later.

The worst weather day

But by far the worst day for an outdoor inauguration was in 1909 when William H. Taft faced 10 inches of snow with more falling and high winds which brought down telephone poles and trees in the area.

He wisely took the oath indoors but despite the horrible weather, there was a large crowd in front of the Capitol.

If the same thing happened again very few people would get to the Capitol. Washington normally gets very little snow and many of the people there have never driven in snow so even two inches of snow, or worse yet, some sleet or ice on roads will bring the city to a complete halt with special 4x4 vehicles assigned to bring critical personnel to places like The White House and The CIA.