U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration will be held indoors due to the cold snap expected to descend on Washington, D.C., on Monday.
“The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies will honor the request of the President-elect and his Presidential Inaugural Committee to move the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies inside the U.S. Capitol to the Rotunda,” officials announced on Friday.
The Rotunda is the large, circular room located beneath the U.S. Capitol’s dome.
DON’T MISS: Presidential inaugurations have seen blizzards and the polar vortex
Washington Polar Vortex
Temperatures in Washington, D.C., are expected to drop as low as -5°C (23°F) with wind chills in the minus teens.
Trump’s inauguration on Monday will be the first time the ceremony has been forced indoors since Ronald Reagan began his second term under the influence of the polar vortex. Wind chill values that day in 1985 dipped into the -20s.
Washington Coldest Inauguration
American presidential inaugurations are required to occur every four years at noon on Jan. 20, rain or shine.
The pomp and circumstance of the swearing-in ceremony is usually hosted on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, overlooking the National Mall toward the Washington Monument.
Presidential inaugurations can last several hours—exposing both guests on the dais and attendees in the audience to the elements that afternoon. After several readings and performances, the vice president is sworn in, followed by the president’s swearing-in and the delivery of the traditional inaugural address.
WATCH: How weather plays a role in presidential inaugurations
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