New York City Weather Archive

Looking Back at New York Weather: June 24

 

1903

This was the sixteenth day of the past eighteen to have some rain.  Nearly seven inches fell during this period and it came after a fifteen-day stretch with no rain.  During these wet days there was also an eight-day streak (6/13-20) in which highs were only in the 60s (typical highs are in the upper 70s).

1959

High temperatures over the past five days: 85-84-83-82-81 (today).

1975

After a sweltering high of 93°, a cold front produced a thunderstorm at around 4PM that had tragic consequences.  Although it produced just 0.18" of rain, the storm created a tremendous wind shear that caused Eastern Airlines Flight 66 to crash as it was approaching Kennedy Airport, killing all but twelve of its 124 passengers.

 

1984

Rain began falling lightly at around 5PM and became heavier as the night went on.  By midnight 1.49" had fallen, a record for the date.  In the rain's last hour, between 11PM-midnight, 0.50" was measured. 

1985

During a severe thunderstorm 0.50" of rain poured down in a 15-minute period between 1:50-2:05 PM.  By the time the rain moved out of the area, shortly before 5PM, 0.89" had fallen.

 

1994

During a torrential downpour between 11:30-midnight, 0.70" of rain was measured.

2003

Today, with a high of 93°, was the first 90-degree reading of the year, coming nearly a month after the typical first 90.  It was also the first day of a four-day heat wave.

 

2010

Today's high of 92° was the first 90-degree day in a month.  Thirty-three more 90-degree days would occur in the next ten weeks.

2017

This was the third day since June 17 to have more than an inch of rain fall during storms that lasted approximately two hours.  However, each storm came at a different time of day.  Today's, which produced 1.11", came at daybreak; the storm on 6/19 moved through at the beginning of the evening rush hour (1.28" fell); and the storm on the 17th (which dumped 1.39") was during lunchtime/early afternoon.  Additionally, today's high of 84° followed four days in a row that had highs of 83°.  

 

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May 2018 Weather Recap - Big Rebound From April

After suffering through the chilliest April in more than 40 years May reversed course and ranked among the ten warmest, ranking sixth (4.5 degrees above average).  The month's unseasonable warmth began right out of the gate as May 1 saw a high of 80° followed by back-to-back days with highs in the 90s.  This was one of the warmest beginnings to May on record (see chart below).  There were also three days later in the month with highs of 88° (5/17), 89° (5/26) and 89° (5/29).  The last time May had five days with highs of 88° or hotter was in 1991 (which was the warmest May on record). 

 

After the three previous months each had more than five inches of precipitation, May was drier than average, with 3.55" of rain measured.  However, there was a period in which seven days out of eight had rain (May 12-19); this included a severe thunderstorm on 5/15 that moved through during the evening rush hour (five people in the metropolitan area were killed by falling tree limbs).

 

Twelve days had highs of 80° or warmer, eight days were 10 degrees or more above average and three days had lows in the 70s.  And although May 2 and 3 had highs in the 90s, the most uncomfortable day was May 26, which had a heat index of 93° (its  high was 89°).  By contrast, May 2 and 3 had very low humidity and their "feels like" temperatures were lower than the air temperature.  Only six other Mays have had three or more lows in the 70s (since 1930), with two of them being in 2016 and 2015.

 

Balancing the two days in the 90s were two days with highs in the 50s - May 13 (Mother's Day) had a high of 54° and May 19 had a high of 56°.

 

Last May was just 3.9 degrees warmer than April, the second closet the two months have been  (closest was 3.5 degrees in 1945).  By contrast, this May was 17.4 degrees warmer than April, the seventh furthest from April (furthest was 18.1 degrees in 1944).  May is typically 9.3 degrees warmer than April.

 

 

 

Here are links to recaps of previous Mays: May 2017, 2016 and 2015.

 

April 2018 Weather Recap - Chilly, Snowy, Rainy

Like four of the past five months, April was colder than average.  (February, the mildest on record, was the outlier.)  This was the chilliest April since 1975, 3.5 degrees below average.  Eight days had mean temperatures ten degrees or more colder than average (and half of the month's days were five degrees or more below average).  Just three days had highs of 70°+, the fewest since April 2000.  Two of them were back-to-back: 82° and 77° on 4/13 and 4/14.  Earlier that week the month's coldest temperature, 32°, was posted on consecutive days, on-par with what the coldest reading is during a typical April (33°).  However, the number of days with highs chillier than 50° (nine) and lows in the 30s (sixteen) was well above average (three and five days, respectively). 

 

April was also a wet month, with 5.78" of precipitation measured, making it the third month in a row to receive more than five inches (5.83" fell in February, 5.17" in March).  The last time this occurred was August-October 2011.  More than half of the month's precipitation fell during a rainstorm on 4/15-16 that dropped 3.29", the biggest deluge since April 30, 2014.  Finally, Easter, which fell on 4/1, was sunny and pleasant, with a high of 60°.  However, 5.5" of snow fell the next morning (forcing postponement of the Yankees' home opener).  This was the biggest snowfall in April since 1982.

 

 

April 2018 was just one of three Aprils since 1970 to have an average temperature below 50.0 degrees (coming in at 49.5 degrees).  Before 1970, however, April temperatures this cool were much more common, with half of the Aprils between 1869 and 1969 being that chilly.  Therefore, when compared to all Aprils, this April ranks as 44th coolest overall.  Finally, March and April 2018 combined were the coldest first two months of meteorological spring since 1984, and the third coldest in the years since 1970.

 

For recaps of the past two Aprils double-click here: April 2017 and April 2016 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biggest Warmups Following A Snowstorm

Less than 12 hours after the the last snowflakes fell from the 8.4" snowstorm of March 21-22, the temperature rose to 50° later that afternoon.  This was the greatest rebound in temperature following a snowfall of six inches or more since 1915 (when the high reached 51° the day after a snowfall of 10.2" on April 3).  Looking at lesser snowfalls (between two and six inches), there have been six that were followed by even milder temperatures, with the the warmest reading being 58° the day after a snowfall of 2.8" on March 13, 1943.  (Coincidentally, in March 1964, on the same dates as this year's 8.4" snowfall, a high of 50° was also reached the afternoon following a snowfall of 4.9".)  And looking at major snowstorms (accumulations of a foot or more), the biggest warm-up came after the 16-inch snowstorm of Dec. 20-21, 1948, when the high reached 42° on the afternoon of the 21st.

 

Going back to 1900, there have been five snowfalls of six inches or more that have been followed by a high of 45° or milder (either during the afternoon of the day of the snowfall or, if snow continued in the PM hours, the following day).  By contrast there have been twenty snowfalls between two to six inches that have been followed by temperatures of 45+.

 

 

 

Previously I posted an analysis that examined significant snowfalls that occurred the day after mild temperatures.  It can be found here.

 

Snowy day in SoHo (March 21, 2018)

Biggest Snowfalls In Above-Freezing Temperatures

In high school science class we learned that snow is  equated with temperatures of 32° or colder; however, that's not always the case as accumulating snow has been known to fall in air temperatures above the freezing mark - as we experienced on three occasions this past winter when 4.4" fell on 2/17, 3.2" on 3/7 and 5.5" on 4/2.  This phenomenon happens when snowflakes fall through a shallow layer of air close to the surface that's a few degrees above freezing.  If the air is relatively dry, some of the flakes will evaporate, cooling the air enough to keep the flakes from changing to rain.  (This is a simplified explanation; a more in-depth discussion on the topic can be found here.)

 

Over the past 100 years four days have had snowfalls of four inches+ on days with temperatures above freezing, six have had three inches or more and 17 days have had accumulations of two inches or more.  The 5.5" snowfall on April 2 of this year has the distinction of being the greatest amount to fall with temperatures above 32°, breaking the previous record set 60 years earlier (4.7" on 3/22/1958).  Perhaps the reason so much accumulated was due to the fact that it fell heavily in a short period of time (five hours), thus hindering the rate of melting.

 

 

Please note that this analysis is limited to days that had temperatures above freezing for the entire day.  Days in which snow fell when temperatures were above freezing but also had temperatures of 32° or colder for part of the day aren't included since hour-by-hour  precipitation is provided for the liquid amount that fell rather than snow.  (However, the snowfall on 2/17 of this year, when the high/low was 40/28, is an exception to this limitation since I actively monitored the hourly temperatures and, therefore, can verify that no snow fell during the hours in the morning when temperatures were below freezing.  Instead, it fell in the evening when temperatures were above freezing.)

 

*Although temperatures were between 28 and 32 in the morning, when snow fell in the evening the temperature was above freezing.

The coldest temperature for the dates on the above chart were either 33° or 34°.  However, there were a few dates with smaller accumulations in which the coldest temperature was 35°: 3/17/1965, when 1.1" was measured; 3/9/1955/0.1"; 2/15/1950/0.4"; 1/9/1932/0.2" and 4/2/1927/0.1".

March 2018 Weather Recap: Chronic Chill Follows Mildest February

For the second year in a row March was colder than February (both which were the mildest on record), a rarity that occurred just once before, in 1890 and 1891.  March 2018 will also be remembered for being subjected to four nor'easters in a three-week period and experiencing a 22-day streak of below-average temperatures.  This was the fifth March of the past six that was colder than average.  However, despite the chronic cold there were no Arctic outbreaks; the coldest low was just 27° (the coldest reading in March is typically in the upper teens) and the coldest high was 39° (the typical coldest high is around 32°).

 

FOUR NOR'EASTERS IN QUICK SUCCESSION

Nor'easter #1 (March 1-2) - This was a rain event, with 2.24" measured.  Colder air moved in as the storm exited in the early evening, briefly changing the rain to wet snow, but it didn't produce a measurable accumulation.

Nor'easter #2 (March 9) - This storm produced wet snow which accumulated 3.2" in the afternoon and evening.  Despite a prediction of 8-10" the accumulation was kept down because temperatures stayed above freezing.  Total liquid precipitation was 1.41".

Nor'easter #3 (March 13-14) - This was the least consequential of the storms.  Despite a prediction of significant snowfall there was no measurable accumulation, and just 0.36" of rain.  Curiously, Central Park was the only reporting site in the metro that didn't have measurable snow (JFK had 1.2" while LaGuardia and Newark both reported 0.3").

Nor'easter #4 (March 21-22) - This was the only storm of the four in which the temperature was 32° or colder for much of the duration.  As a result, a significant amount of snow, 8.4", piled up, making it one of the ten largest snowfalls after March 15. 

All but 0.11" of the month's 5.17" came from these nor'easters.  This was the second month in a row with more than five inches of precipitation, the first time it's happened since Dec. 2014/Jan. 2015.  The combined 11.00" that was measured was close to 50% above the average amount of precipitation for the two months (7.45").

 

MORE CHILLY THAN COLD

The 22-day streak with below average temperatures (March 7-28) is the fifth longest in the years since 1950.  But while it was one of the longest below-average streaks on record it wasn't a particularly cold one.  At 4.5 degrees below average it was the least below-average of any streak of 15 days or longer.  Another curious aspect about this March was that it shared some characteristics with Marches that were milder than average, i.e., very few lows in the 20s (just two), a coldest high that was around 40°, and no days ten degrees or more colder than average. 

Overall, March 2018 was 2.4 degrees colder than average, which was 1.8 degrees colder than February.  By comparison, March 2017 was 3.3 degrees below average and 2.4 degrees colder than February.  Typically, March is 6.2 degrees milder than February.

 

 

 

Other March recaps: 2017 and 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

Puzzling Snow-To-Water Ratios Between Central Park & LaGuardia During Recent Nor'easter

Although Central Park and LaGuardia are just seven miles apart their snow: liquid ratios from the March 21-22 nor'easter were very different. Central Park's 8:1 ratio (based on 8.4" of snow from 1.05" liquid precipitation) is what you'd expect for a heavy, wet snow while LGA's 15:1 ratio (9.7" of snow from 0.64" liquid) is what you'd expect in Arctic air - yet, the temperature at the airport was mostly 33°-34° during the storm while CPK's was 31°-32° (an average ratio is 10" of snow from an inch of water).

 

 

Source: North Carolina University Climate Office

And the disparity between the two locations was even greater in the last few hours of the storm (after midnight on 3/22) as Central Park picked up 0.2" of snow from 0.06" of liquid while LGA measured 0.9" of snow from just 0.1" (which would produce a very powdery snow).  That's extreme and more common when the air temperature is in the teens, not one degree above freezing.  Bottom line, LaGuardia's ratio is very puzzling.

 

 

 

February 2018 Pushes Past February 2017 to Become Mildest on Record

Some weather records for warmest and coldest month have been in place for decades.  For example, the warmest January, March and June have been on top since 1932, 1945 and 1943, respectively.  But this February was an extremely rare instance in which a new record broke the one that was  established just one year earlier (October 1946 also lost its crowns 12 months later as did August and November 1895).  With an average temperature of 42.0, February 2018 was 6.7 degrees above average.  This was 0.4 degrees milder than Feb. 2017, and just 0.5 degrees below a typical March. 

 

The highlight of the month was the June-like high of 78° on 2/21.  Not only was it the eleventh time a 70-degree reading occurred in February, it was the warmest reading ever reported in February, besting the previous record (in 1930 and 1985) by three degrees.  (But within 24 hours the temperature fell into the more seasonable upper 30s.)  This was also the second February in a row with a high in the 70s - the only time this has happened.  Additionally, for the first time three Februarys in a row ('16, '17, '18) had five or more days with highs in the 60s or warmer.

 

 

Compared to last February, this February was also much wetter, with more than twice as much precipitation (5.83" vs. 2.48").  At one point during the month there was a stretch of twelve days (Feb. 14-25) in which every day but one had measurable precipitation, one of the greatest concentrations on record.  However, the amount of precipitation was a relatively modest 2.01", which was just a little more than what fell from the rainstorm of Feb. 10-11 (1.79").

 

There were 17 days of measurable precipitation, tying it with February 1884 as the most ever for the month.  However, despite this high frequency the month didn't rank among the ten wettest (nor did Feb. 1884, which had an inch less precipitation than 2018).  However, it still had nearly twice as much precipitation than average (5.83" vs. 3.04") and ranks as thirteenth wettest February (placing it among the top 10% of the years since 1869).  Lastly, this was the wettest February in eight years.

 

There were a few touches of winter during the month, with the coldest day, on 2/3, having a high/low of 31/16 (coldest day of the month).  In total there were eight days with colder than average mean temperatures (two more than Feb. 2017).  4.4" of snow fell on 2/17 despite the temperature not being 32° or colder while the snow was falling.  This snowfall came at the end of a week that had three days with highs in the low 60s and was followed a few days later by days with highs of 67° and 78°.

 

 

February 2012, which was the mildest February for five years, still has the mildest average low temperature of any February, 0.4 degrees warmer than either February 2018 or 2017.

 

 

From Feb. 11 thru Feb. 28 temperatures were eleven degrees above average.  Last February, during the very same period, temperatures were nine degrees above average.

 

Finally, February's record warmth came just four months after the warmest October on record and one month after New York experienced one of its longest stretches of high temperatures of 32° or colder (fourteen days).  And just three years ago one of the coldest Februarys on record had an average high that was more than two degrees colder than this February's average low (32.1 vs 34.5). 

 

Other recaps of past Februarys:

February 2017

February 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 Weather Highlights in New York

 
JANUARY 

1 - The morning low of 7° was the coldest reading on New Year's Day in 100 years (since it was -4° in 1918).  Today was also the seventh day in a row with a high of 32° or colder (the longest such streak since Feb. 2014) and the sixth consecutive day with a high of 25° or colder (the first time since Jan. 1981).  

4 - A powerful coastal storm produced near whiteout conditions late in the morning, with snow accumulating close to ten inches by the time it ended later in the afternoon.  (Much of Long Island and towns along the Jersey shore were buried under 12" to 15".)  Today's snow easily broke the previous record for snowfall on this date, which was 4.0" - and today's accumulation of 9.8" was slightly more than last winter's biggest snowfall (9.4").  Temperatures held in the mid-20s throughout the storm; wind gusts between 35-45 mph produced wind chills in the single digits.  The snow and wind kept LaGuardia Airport closed for much of the day while JFK didn't reopen until the following morning.  Today was also the tenth consecutive day in which the high was colder than 32°, making this the longest such streak since one of 12 days in January 2003. 

6 - Today was the twelfth day in a row with a high colder than 32°, and it was the coldest day of them all, with a high/low of just 13/6.  And while Feb. 14, 2016 had a colder mean temperature (high/low of 15/-1), today's high was the coldest since Jan. 16, 1994, when it was just 10°.

7 - Today, with a frigid high/low of 18/5, was the thirteenth day in a row with a high below 32°.  This tied it with another 13-day streak during the winter of of 2001 for second longest on record (in the years since 1900).  This winter's streak, however, had much colder temperatures, with an average high of 22/13 (sixteen degrees below average) versus 30/19 for the 2001 streak. 

8 - Today, with a high/low of 31/17, was the fourteenth day in a row with a high of 32° or colder, making it the third longest cold streak on record (behind a 16-day streak in the winter of 1961 and a 15-day streak in the winter of 1881).  Today's high was somewhat of a surprise because last week the high forecast for today was 40°, and even today the forecast was for a high of 33°.  The average high/low during these two weeks was 23/13, fifteen degrees below average.

12 - The temperature rose to 61°, just five days after a low of 5°.  This mild air streamed in as a storm system approached from the west, bringing periods of rain that amounted to slightly more than a half inch (much less than the two inches that had been predicted).  Temperatures were at 55° or milder from daybreak until early the following morning (on 1/13). 

13 - Between 6AM and 10AM the temperature nosedived from 58° to 28°, and by midnight it had fallen to 19° (and by 6AM on 1/14 the temperature had fallen to 15°).  This somewhat mirrored the plummeting temperature on this date 100 years ago.

15 - Today's high of 30° was the nineteenth so far this winter that was 32° or colder, the most by mid-January since the winter of 1981.  (The typical number for an entire winter is seventeen.)  In the past 100 years only three winters have had more freezing or colder high temperatures: 1977 (25), 1918 (23) and 1981 (21).

 

FEBRUARY

4 - Nearly an inch of rain fell tonight, mostly between 5:00 and 11PM.  This was the biggest rainstorm since the end of October when more than three inches fell (the biggest rainstorm of 2017).

10 - The 0.58" of rain that fell today brought February's precipitation to 2.62", which was more than the entire month of January (2.18"), December (2.21") or November (1.58").  Today's rain was the third significant rainfall this week (and more was expected for tomorrow).

11 - Yesterday's rain continued through early evening, adding 1.21" to yesterday's amount for a total of 1.79".  This was nearly the same amount that fell from two storms last week, on 2/4 (0.96") and 2/7 (0.85").  The heaviest rain fell in the early afternoon when 0.35" poured down between 1:00 and 2:00.  Temperatures, which had hovered in the upper 40s since yesterday, jumped from 47° at 1PM to 62° shortly before 5PM - the mildest reading since the end of November. 

12 - For the second day in a row the high reached 62° (twenty-one degrees above average), but while yesterday's high occurred in the early evening, today's was reached shortly after 1:30 AM.  Today's high also tied the record for the date.  These were the first back-to-back readings in the 60s since the first week of November.

17 - Despite the temperature going no lower than 33°, a heavy, wet snow accumulated 4.4" between 5PM and midnight.  This came at the end of a week that had three days with highs of 62° and one with a high of 58° (yesterday).

20 - Overcast skies in the morning gave way to sunshine by lunchtime and the temperature soared to 67°, the warmest reading since Nov. 3.  This was the fourth day this month with a high of 60°, making it the third February in a row with four or more such days - a record streak.  This followed three Februarys in a row with no highs in the 60s.   

21 - Today's high soared to 78°, breaking the previous record by ten degrees.  This was the warmest reading ever reported during the month of February; the warmest reading previously was 75°, which occurred in 1930 and again in 1985.  Lastly, this was only the eleventh time a reading in the 70s was reported in February at Central Park (on average, the mildest temperature in February is around 60°).

25 - This was the eleventh day of the past twelve to have measurable precipitation.  The 0.73" of rain that fell this morning through early afternoon today was the most to fall during this 12-day period (2.01" fell in total).  Today was also the seventeenth day this month with measurable precipitation, the most since December 2012.  Additionally, this number of days tied February 1884 for the most days of precipitation in February.

 

MARCH

2 - The day after March came in like a lamb (high of 60°), a fierce nor'easter battered the area.  Throughout the day the City was lashed by a wind-driven mix of rain and wet snow that amounted to 2.24" (0.38" of it fell last night).  And although Manhattan was spared gale force winds (peak gust was 34 mph), gusts of 50-70 mph were common at the three major airports, on Long Island, the Jersey shore, and southern New England. 

7 - A nor'easter that produced heavy, wet snow left far less in New York than had been predicted, while many suburbs in New Jersey and the Hudson Valley were buried by one to two feet of snow.  (This was the second March in a row to have an under performing snowstorm in NYC.)  Despite snow falling steadily from late morning (accompanied by thunder) until 8PM, just 3.2" was measured in Central Park (but it was the first snowfall of an inch or more on this date since 1969).  This was largely due to temperatures that stayed above freezing for the entire event.  Curiously, the snowfall forecast had been adjusted upward later in the morning to 8-12".  Despite the modest snowfall, the amount of liquid that fell amounted to 1.41". 

17 - Although today's high of 48° was close to average, the morning low was a nippy 27°.  This broke a twelve-day string of days with lows that ranged from 30° to 33°.  It was also the first low colder than 30° in a month (2/17), and the coldest since 2/13 (26°). 

18 - The weekend featured clear skies and very low humidity.  Yesterday afternoon it ranged between 22%-25% while today it was even lower, falling to 15% during lunchtime.  Today was also the twelfth day in a row with below average temperatures.

21 - Snow began falling shortly after daybreak and continued for the rest of the day into the wee hours of 3/21.  By midnight 8.2" had accumulated, making this one of the biggest snowstorms to occur after March 15 (an additional 0.2" fell after midnight).  This was the fourth nor'easter this month, but the first in which the temperature was 32° or colder in New York. 

22 - Less than twelve hours after the last snowflakes from yesterday's snowstorm fell around dawn, skies were clear and the temperature rose to 50°.  Although this was slightly below average, it was the mildest reading since March 1 (when the high reached 60°). Today was also the sixteenth day in a row with below average temperatures; the last time there was a streak this long was in April 2007.

28 - Today, with a high/low of 52/38 (one degree below average) was the 22nd day in a row with a below average mean temperature, the fifth longest streak of this kind in the years since 1950.  Temperatures during this streak, however, were just 4.5 degrees below average, which is the least below average of any streak of 15 days or longer.

 

APRIL

2 - A heavy, wet snow fell between 5:00 and 10:00 this morning, accumulating 5.5" - the biggest snowfall in April since the blizzard of April 6, 1982 (9.6").  Like the snowfalls of 2/17 (4.4") and 3/9 (3.2"), the temperature during this morning's snowfall remained above freezing.  This was the fifth snowfall of four inches or more this season, each occurring in a different month.  Today's snow brought the season total to 40.9", making this the ninth season in the past sixteen with 40 inches or more (average snowfall is 25.8").  As a result of this snowfall the Yankees home opener was postponed.     

12 - Although today's high of 63° was only slightly milder than average it was the warmest reading since Feb. 21's extraordinary high of 78°.

13 - Today's high of 82° was nearly twenty degrees warmer than yesterday's, and was nine days earlier than the typical date of a year's first 80-degree reading.  And this morning's low of 60° was what the average high should be.

14 - After the temperature peaked at 77° in the middle of the afternoon a back-door cold front moved through and by midnight the temperature had dropped to 44°.  This was the greatest drop in temperature since 1/13 when it plummeted from 58° to 19°.

15 - After two days of summer-like temperatures, today was windy, raw and overcast with temperatures only in the low 40s.  And conditions became even more miserable in the evening when rain moved in and the temperature dropped into the upper 30s.

16 - The steady rain that moved in last night continued through noon today, heavy at times, and was accompanied by winds that gusted to 43 mph.  Total rainfall was 3.29", 2.82" which poured down this morning, with more than half falling in the three-hours between 7:30 and 10:30 (1.54").  This was the greatest 24-hour rainfall in four years, since nearly five inches flooded the city on 4/30 in 2014.  As today's rain exited the temperature jumped fourteen degrees in the hour between 11AM and noon (from 46° to 60°). 

22 - On a mostly clear day, with afternoon temperatures in the mid-to-upper 60s, the humidity dropped to 13% for a few hours during mid-afternoon.  This was the lowest humidity level in New York since March of last year, when it fell to 12% on 3/5.  Typical afternoon humidity (on a day without rain) is around 45%.

25 - It was a dreary, showery, fog-shrouded day.  The 0.95" that fell (much of it between 6:00-9:00 and then just before midnight) pushed April's total precipitation past the five-inch mark, the third month in a row with five inches or more.  The last time this happened was Sept-Oct 2011, but that three-month period had more than twice as much precipitation (34.43" vs. 16.45").

 

MAY

1 - After muddling through the chilliest April in more than 40 years, conditions on this first day of May were summer-like, with a high of 80° under clear skies.  This was 29 degrees warmer than yesterday's high.  Additionally, the humidity in mid-afternoon dropped to 12%, the lowest level this year (below 4/22's 13% and 3/18's 15%).

2 - It was a clear, dry and hot day, with a record-tying high of 90°.  This was the first 90 of the year, the earliest date for it since 2010 (when it happened on 4/7, the earliest date on record for this occurrence).  Only 11 years (going back to 1869) have had an earlier date for their first 90.  Like yesterday, today's humidity was very low, especially during the afternoon when it dropped to 13% (it bottomed out at 12% yesterday).  As a result, the "feels-like" temperature was a bit cooler than the air temperature, in the mid-80s.

3 - Yesterday's high of 90° tied the record originally set in 2001; today's high of 92°, twenty-four degrees above average, broke the previous record - also from 2001. 

4 - Today's low of 72° was a record-warm reading for the date (twenty-two degrees above average - and four degrees above the day's average high).  Today was the fourth day in a row with highs of 80° or warmer (today's was 84°), the longest such streak since one of seven days in late September.

13 - It was a cool and dismal Mothers Day holiday, with light showers, drizzle and fog throughout the day.  The high of 54° was the coolest reading in eight years, and there was just a two-degree difference between the day's high and low.

15 - A very warm and humid afternoon, with a high of 88°, ended turbulently as a fast-moving line of severe thunderstorms struck as the evening rush hour was beginning.  This caused long delays for commuters waiting at Grand Central Station and widespread cancellations for air travelers (like me, trying to return from Pittsburgh).  Wind gusts of 55, 54 and 53 mph were clocked at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports; by contrast, Central Park was protected and a had a peak gust of only 30 mph.  Five persons were killed in the metro area from falling tree limbs.

17 - Light rain during the morning made this the sixth day in a row with measurable precipitation.  This was the third six-day streak this year, joining 1945 and 1919 as the only years with three streaks of six days (or more).  However, the amounts from this year's streaks have been unimpressive: 0.90" (Feb 14-19); 1.33" (Apr 24-29) and 1.49" (May 12-17). 

20 - It was a warm and humid day, and today's high of 81° was 25 degrees warmer than yesterday's  (on a showery day shrouded in fog).  This was the reverse of what happened last year on this date, when the high of 65° was 26 degrees cooler than the previous day.

26 - Today, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, was very warm and humid, with a high/low of 89/72.  This was the fourth day this month with a high of 88° or hotter, making this the first May with this many days since May 2000.

27 - The temperature fell from 80° at around 1AM to the upper 50s by evening.  This was a day after the high reached 89° (and the heat index was 93°).  Today's much chillier air was ushered in by morning rain, which amounted to 0.44".  Additionally, the afternoon was windy, with winds gusting to 27 mph.

 

JUNE

17 - Mostly clear and hot, with a high of 91°, making this the first Father's Day to reach the 90s in twelve years. This high was 36 degrees hotter than Mother's Day! Today's heat was somewhat mitigated by low humidity (24% during mid-afternoon), which produced a "feels like" temperature three degrees cooler than the air temperature.

18 - Today's high was the same as yesterday's but there was a distinct difference between the two days in terms of comfort level because today was much more humid.  As a result, today's heat index rose to 96°, which was nine degrees hotter than yesterday (this afternoon's dew point was in the low 70s while it was only in the upper 40s yesterday). 

 

 

 

Biggest Snowstorms by Day of the Week

Looking at snowstorms of 10" or more by day of the week (there have been 54 since 1900) reveals Friday to be the day most likely to pick up this type of hefty accumulation (nine times).  By contrast, Thursday has never had a snowfall this big; the greatest accumulation has been 9.8", which happened twice - in February 1934 and during this current winter, on January 4.  And although a snowstorm that dumped 20.9" in February 2010 started on a Thursday, less than half of the total (9.4") fell on that day. 

 

About two-thirds of the snowstorms in this analysis started on one day and ended the following day (and one storm in February 1920 had significant accumulations on three days).  Of the snowstorms which continued into the next day, the storm with the most significant accumulation on each day was the snowstorm of Feb. 25-26, 2010, which saw 9.4" fall on Thursday and 11.5" on Friday. 

 

New York's three biggest snowstorms each occurred on a different day of the week (and a different month): The biggest snowfall of all time, in January 2016, occurred on a Saturday; the second greatest accumulation, in February 2006, took place mostly on a Sunday; and the third-ranked snowstorm, in December 1947, buried the City on a Friday.   

 

One calendar date, Feb. 17, is shared by two Monday snowstorms (in 1902 and 2003); another, Feb. 10, is shared by two on Wednesday (in 1926 and 2010); and Feb. 11 has been the date of two Friday snowstorms (in 1983 and 1994).  Finally, there has been a 10"+ accumulation on the same day of the week in consecutive winters just once.  It happened on a Monday during the winters of 1978 and 1979, when 15.5" fell on Feb. 6, 1978 and 12.7" fell on Feb. 19, 1979. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 2018 Weather Recap - Early Cold Wave Followed by Three Uneventful Weeks

January began the way December ended - bitterly cold.  A nearly unprecedented cold wave of fourteen-days, all with highs colder than 32°, began on Dec. 26 and continued through Jan. 8.  But after shivering through the first eight days of the month, which were 16 degrees colder than average (the coldest start of a year since 1968), the remainder of the month was almost five degrees above average (but there were three days with highs of 32° or colder and one with a high of 33°).  This milder stretch of days resulted in the month being just slightly below average (-0.9 degree).  For the entire month there were sixteen days that were either ten degrees or more above or below average (there were eight of each), the most in January since 2004.  Finally, not only were the first eight days frigid, but a snowstorm on Jan. 4 dumped nearly ten inches of snow on the City (then just 1.4" fell in the next four weeks).  Here are some other observations: 

 

• The month was on the dry side, with 2.18" of precipitation measured, comparable to what fell in November (1.58") and December (2.21").  The three months received about half of the typical amount of precipitation (5.96" vs. 11.67").  Additionally, the past seven months have all had below average rainfall.

• December/January combined were the coldest in seven years, since the winter of 2010-11.

• Jan. 6 was the coldest day of the cold wave, with a high/low of just 13/6.  And while Feb. 14, 2016 had a colder mean temperature (high/low of 15/-1), 1/6's high was the coldest since Jan. 16, 1994, when it was just 10°.  Then five days after the low was 5° on 1/7 (22 degrees below average), the high on 1/12 soared to 61° (23 degrees above average).

• On Jan. 15 the high of 30° was the nineteenth of the winter that was 32° or colder, the most by mid-January since the winter of 1981.  (The typical number for an entire winter is seventeen.)  In the past 100 years only three winters had more freezing or colder high temperatures by 1/15: 1977 (25), 1918 (23) and 1981 (21).

• January and December both had eight days with highs of 50° or milder, but January had more days of 55+ (five vs. three) and 60+ (two vs. one).

• Although January's temperature was below average this was due to the low temperature being 2.2 degrees colder than average.  The average high was actually 0.4 degrees above average.  This 2.6-degree disparity between the high and low was the greatest since 1994, when it was 3.0 degrees (the high was 4.4 degrees below average and the high was 7.4 degrees below).

 

 

Here are links to previous January recaps: 

January 2017

January 2015

January 2014