When President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in next Friday it will be amid temperatures that make it feel like early spring. | Getty Inauguration forecast: Partly sunny with a chance of protests The weather outlook for Donald Trump's swearing-in is promising.

There might be hundreds of thousands of protesters marching against Donald Trump's inauguration. But at least the weather outlook is promising.

When the president-elect is sworn in Friday on the West Front of the Capitol, it will be amid outdoor air temperatures that will make it feel like early spring, instead of the dead of winter.


The National Weather Service, which produces daily forecasts for up to seven days in advance, revealed its first look at the inauguration conditions late Friday: partly sunny with highs in the upper 50s.

But the weather service also makes clear that, even though the official forecast doesn’t include precipitation, there is a chance of rain.

“We’re having a pretty strong upper-level ridge off to our south, and that’s directing a lot of milder air into our region,” said Ray Martin, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Sterling, Virginia, which serves the Washington area.

“But there will be a frontal system near the area, so there is the chance of showers,” Martin added. “At this point, it could be pouring rain [at noon on Friday], or it could be completely dry all day with some sun.”

Trump’s circle isn’t concerned about the threat of rain. “Nothing will dampen the spirits of the people who are ready for change,” incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer told POLITICO.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee — which is handling the official preparations for the event — did not reply to an email inquiry. But Boris Epshteyn, the committee’s communications director, told CNN earlier this week that he and his team have been monitoring the weather — and they aren’t concerned.

“We have accounted for every contingency,” Epshteyn told CNN’s David Chalian on the podcast, “The Daily D.C.” “We are fully prepared. But we believe the weather’s going to be unbelievable. It’s going to be great. And Americans all over the country should come and join.”

Judging by his public comments, Trump’s personal expectations for next Friday are also high.

“We’re going to have a very, very elegant day,” Trump said Wednesday at his whirlwind news conference. “The 20th is going to be something that will be very, very special; very beautiful. And I think we’re going to have massive crowds because we have a movement.”

The crowd is likely to encounter temperatures far warmer than the average highs for the date: 43 degrees. And the thermometer reading could threaten the record for the warmest inaugural since the 20th Amendment shifted the swearing-in from March to January.

That record is held by Ronald Reagan’s first inauguration in 1981. It was 55 degrees at noon that day under mostly cloudy skies — a far cry from the bitter cold that disrupted his inaugural festivities four years later, after he won a second term.

The 20th fell on a Sunday that year, shifting inaugural festivities to the following day. And that Monday proved brutal.

With forecasters the day before the ceremonies predicting dangerously cold temperatures, Reagan was forced to cancel all outdoor events. At noon Eastern time on Jan. 21, Reagan and congressional leaders were comfortably ensconced in the Capitol, protected from the 7-degree temperatures outside. With the wind chill, it felt colder than 10 degrees below zero.

In a statement announcing the cancellation of the outdoor events, Reagan thanked those who had traveled to Washington to celebrate his second term.

“It may be cold outside,” Reagan said, “but our hearts will always be warmed by the many wonderful memories of thousands of our fellow citizens coming to Washington this weekend to join us as we continue our work to make America great again.”

Reagan’s second inaugural wasn’t the only quadrennial swearing-in disturbed by extreme weather. The first inauguration held after the Constitution was amended to change the date to Jan. 20 — Franklin Roosevelt’s second, in 1937 — came on a day so rainy that photos of the crowd gathered at the Capitol show only a sea of umbrellas.

In 1961, a nor’easter dumped 8 inches of snow on Washington in the hours leading up to John F. Kennedy’s inauguration, but the ceremonies went on as the skies cleared. Attendees at George W. Bush’s first inauguration in 2001 wore clear plastic ponchos as Bush was sworn in amid a cold rain.

Issues with weather didn’t begin with the move to January from March 4. Herbert Hoover delivered his inaugural address through a driving rain in 1929. Ten inches of snow fell in the hours leading up to William Howard Taft’s inauguration in 1909.

March 4, 1873 — the date of Ulysses S. Grant’s second inaugural — still holds the record for the coldest March morning: It dropped to 4 degrees before daybreak and was only 16 degrees at noon.

And, arguably, cold inaugural weather contributed to two tragedies in the mid-19th century. Franklin Pierce’s inaugural in 1853 — delivered through snow and cold temperatures — ended the presidency of Millard Fillmore, who failed to win renomination at the Whig Party convention the year before. Fillmore’s wife, Abigail, purportedly developed pneumonia after attending Pierce’s swearing-in and passed away within the month.

William Henry Harrison was similarly laid low after his inauguration in 1841. After delivering a lengthy address on a cool, breezy day, Harrison rode back to the White House without a hat or coat. Harrison died a month later.

Trump isn’t likely to face that kind of threatening weather. And the president-elect has seen his fair share of rain during the lengthy campaign season.

Last month, during a stop on Trump’s “Thank You” tour in Mobile, Alabama, it began to rain during the president-elect’s remarks.

“I will stay out here. To hell with this suit, right?” Trump asked the crowd.

“Rain is good luck, right? Rain is good luck. And I never liked this suit, anyway. So we’ll throw it away after.”