What weather events/trends characterized the 1950s in New York? The decade began with the fierce Thanksgiving weekend nor'easter of 1950. Then four tropical systems affected the area in 1954 and 1955: Carol and Edna in 1954, and Connie and Diane in 1955. 1955 also had a torrid summer, as did 1952. Then there was the summer of '53 that ended with an unprecedented 12-day heat wave. Five of the six summers from 1952 thru 1957 had 100-degree readings, the greatest concentration of any decade. The second half of March 1956 and 1958 experienced harsh winter weather while half of the Decembers during the decade had the coldest and/or snowiest weather of their respective winters.
Regarding precipitation, the only snowstorm of a foot or more came at the end of the '50s when 13.7" fell on Dec. 21-22, 1959. Finally, an extended period with below-average precipitation began at the beginning of the decade and would continue through the mid-1960s. (Ironically, the rainiest Halloween and Easter occurred this decade, in 1956 and 1958, respectively.) What follows, in chronological order, are nearly 100 weather highlights:
1950
January 6 - The high rose into the 60s for the fourth day in a row. Highs on these days: 60 (1/3)-66-64-63 (today).
January 26 - Today's high soared to 72°, the mildest reading ever reported in January (later equaled on Jan. 6, 2007).
February 21 - The morning low of 6° was the coldest reading of the winter. )The average low during the last week of February is in the upper 20s.)
March 4 - This was the seventh day since Feb. 20 with a low of 12° or colder. Additionally, eight of the days had highs of 32° or colder. The average high/low during this 13-day period was 32/16, twelve degrees colder than average.
April 10 - For the fifth day in a row the morning low was 32° or colder. The average low during these days was 29°, which was twelve degrees below average.
July 31 - Today's high of 94° was the the last reading in the 90s this year, the earliest date for this occurrence since 1903 when it fell on 7/30 (1934 and 1904 also had their last 90 on 7/31). In total there were only six 90-degree days this summer.
September 24 - Very chilly conditions, with a high/low of only 53/43. Today's high, 20 degrees below average, was more typical of the second week of November. Unseasonably chilly days like this in autumn are often caused by nor'easters but today was dry under a mix of sun and clouds.
November 2 - Today's high was a record 83° and was the fourth day in a row of extraordinarily mild weather. Oct. 30 had a high of 79°, Halloween had a high of 76°, and yesterday had a record high of 84°. Highs during this four-day period averaged 81°, 22 degrees above average.
November 25 - One of the strongest nor'easters of the 20th century lashed New York on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, with winds as high as 70 mph and 1.58" of rain that fell between 6AM and 8PM. Temperatures dropped steadily during the day, from 59° to 36°. This storm produced very heavy snowfall in Pennsylvania and the Appalachians, including 27.4" in Pittsburgh (over the course of three days).
December 26 - Although it was just 2.9", the light snow that fell today in the morning and afternoon was the biggest snowfall during the winter of 1950-51. It was also the coldest day of the winter, with a high/low of 22/9.
1951
July 27 - Yesterday and today were the hottest days of the year, with both having a high/low of 94/69.
October 3 - The afternoon of Bobby Thomson's famed 3-run home run against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the bottom of the 9th inning that gave the NY Giants a come-from-behind win, and the National League pennant, was mostly cloudy with the temperature in the upper 60s.
November 7 - Although today's nor'easter wasn't the biggest rain producer of the year (that honor goes to a storm on March 29-30 that brought 2.64"), the 2.01" that fell today poured down in less than six hours between 5:30-11AM, while March's storm was over the course of 40 hours. Besides this morning's heavy rain, winds gusted to 40 mph. (And just four days earlier two inches of rain fell, but over the course of twenty-one hours.)
November 20 - For the second day in a row the high/low was a cold 35/26 (16 degrees below average).
December 17 - Today's frigid high/low of 20/8 (22 degrees below average) made this the coldest day of the winter of 1951-52. Skies were clear.
1952
January 28 - Rain in the morning (when temperatures fell from the low 40s through the 30s) changed to snow early in the afternoon, accumulating 5.8" by early morning the next day - the winter's biggest snowfall.
March 9 - The low was 31° for the fifth day in a row (after two days with lows of 32°).
April 2 - For the tenth year in a row measurable precipitation fell on this date - the longest such streak on record. The amount of rain that fell today (during the late morning) was just 0.09", and was the same amount that fell last year on this date.
June 26 - Today's high/low was a torrid 101/81. The low was NYC's warmest ever recorded in June and the high was the earliest reading in the triple digits (next earliest would come in 1966 on June 27).
October 1 - One week after a very chilly high of 53° (19 degrees below average), today's high was 86° (17 degrees above average).
December 2-3 - The biggest snowfall of the winter of 1952-53 brought 4.5". It was a sloppy snowfall, with snow changing to rain after 2.3" fell before changing back to snow on the 3rd during the morning when an additional 2.2" accumulated.
December 28 - Today's high/low of 30/12 made this the coldest day of the winter. And there would be just one more day this winter with a sub-freezing high (Feb. 2).
1953
February 2 - Today was the second, and last, day of this mild winter with a sub-freezing high; the day's high/low was 29/14. (A typical winter has 18 days with highs of 32° or colder.) It came the day after the high was 52°.
March 24 - Today saw the fourth rainstorm of an inch or more in the past three weeks. It moved in shortly after daybreak and was over by early afternoon. Half of the day's 1.04" rainfall fell between 11AM and noon.
July 18 - This was the second day in a row with a high in the triple digits, the first time with consecutive 100°+ readings since late August 1948, when there were three such days in a row.
July 23 - Heavy rain that fell in the morning hours between 7AM and noon amounted to 2.41", breaking the previous record amount for the date, from 1938, by 0.01".
August 21 - Today was the first day of a record twelve-day heat wave. It followed a seven-day heat wave in mid-July.
August 28 - In the midst of a 12-day heat wave today was the first of six days in a row with highs of 97° or hotter.
September 2 - Today's high of 102° was the hottest reading of the year, and the fourth time the mercury reached triple digits this year - a first (later duplicated in 1966). This was also just the second time a high of 100+ occurred in September (the first was on Sept. 7, 1881).
September 4 - Today was the twelfth day in a row with highs in the 90s - NYC's lengthiest heat wave on record (a record that still stands). The average high/low during this torrid streak was 95/74 - fourteen degrees above average. Today was also the seventh day in a row with lows of 75° or warmer.
November 6 - Three days after the high reached 73°, 2.2" of snow fell - the earliest accumulation of two inches or more on record (4.0" fell at LaGuardia Airport). The snow began around noon but later changed to rain (the day's high/low was 38/30). This was part of an intense storm system that pummeled the City with 50 mph winds. (Temperatures in the 70s would return from 11/17-20).
1954
January 10-12 - Light snow fell for 39 hours, beginning mid-afternoon on 1/10 and ending in the pre-dawn hours of 1/12. A total of 8.4" piled up, with 2.2" falling on the 10th, 5.4" accumulating on the 11th, and 0.8" falling on the 12th. This was the biggest snowfall in five years.
January 16 - 12.5" of snow fell in the past seven days, with measurable snow falling on six of the days. After today less than an inch of snow would fall for the rest of the winter.
January 18 - The morning low of 7° was the coldest reading of the winter.
February 15 - Two days after the low was 11°, this afternoon's high soared to 69° under clear skies (31 degrees above average, but four degrees from the record set in 1949).
February 28 - Today's unseasonably mild high/low of 59/41 was typical of temperatures in the second half of the month. At 14 degrees above average, the past two weeks' high/low of 56/38 was more typical of the first week of April. No day during this two-week period had a temperature that went below freezing.
April 22 - This was the third day in a row with identical, beautiful conditions - clear skies with a high of 78° every day (compared to an average high in the low 60s).
July 31 - This was the second day this summer with a high of 100° (the other was on 7/14). Today, however, had the warmest mean temperature of the year as its low was 77°, compared to 69° on 7/14.
August 31 - Hurricane Carol made landfall on eastern Long Island and brushed the City with gale force winds and 1.71" of rain, which began last night and continued today through late morning.
September 11 - Less than two weeks after Hurricane Carol, Hurricane Edna made itself known, dumping 3.30" of rain, with most of it falling in the twelve hours between 10PM last night and 10AM this morning. This was the biggest rainfall of the year.
1955
February 2 - The biggest snowfall of the winter, 3.6", began shortly after midnight and continued thru mid-afternoon. The temperature fell throughout the day, from 28° to 10° just before midnight.
February 3 - The morning low of zero degrees was the coldest reading of the winter. The last time the temperature was this cold was on Jan. 31, 1948.
August 6 - With a high of 97°, today was the tenth day in the past three weeks to have a high of 97° or hotter.
August 7 - Every day in the first week of August had temperatures in the 90s (today's high was 93°). The average high/low during these days was 96/75, ten degrees above average. The heat wave came to an end this evening when thunderstorms from mid-afternoon onward dropped nearly an inch of rain.
August 11-13 - Hurricane Connie flooded New York with 7.11" of rain over the course of 39 hours, with the first band of heavy rain moving through late on 8/11. Although 8/12 had the most rain (3.62"), the heaviest sustained period of rain occurred on 8/13 from 2-8AM when 2.50" poured down. Rain was more of an issue than wind, which gusted between 35 and 45 mph, well below hurricane force. This was New York's biggest rainstorm since the Great Hurricane of September 1944. And while this ranks as one of NYC's biggest rain totals, LaGuardia Airport picked up five inches more rain than NYC.
August 18-19 - Less than a week after the flooding rains from hurricane Connie, another tropical system, Diane, affected the region, but compared to Connie it moved relatively quickly. The first band of heavy rain moved in late at night on the 18th and by 8AM on the 19th the rain was over; less than two inches fell but significant flooding resulted since the ground was over-saturated from the large amounts of rain from Connie. Sustained winds got no higher than 30 mph (but winds gusted to 54 mph at LaGuardia Airport).
August 20 - The fierce heat of the first week of August returned for one last heat wave. Today's high reached 97°, tomorrow's was 96° and 8/22 had a high of 90°. Nearly half of the days between July 2 and Aug. 22 had highs in the 90s - and sixteen days had highs of 95° or hotter. (This was after a cool June.)
November 29 - It was a very cold day, with a high/low of only 28/16, twenty degrees below average.
December 21 - This was the coldest day of the winter of 1955-56, with a high/low of 18/5, twenty-three degrees below average. This followed what was the second coldest day of the winter, 20/6.
December 25 - Every day between Dec. 19 and Jan. 2 had well below average temperatures except for today, which had a high of 51° under mostly sunny skies.
1956
January 2 - Temperatures were ten degrees colder than average for the past two weeks.
March 14 - It was a windy, raw and wet day. The 1.02" of rain that fell, mostly between 4AM and 1PM, was a record for the date (which still stands) - besting the old record from 1913 by 0.01".
March 18 - Less than 48 hours after a snowfall of 6.7" an even bigger storm moved in during the afternoon. By the time snow stopped falling 24 hours later 11.6" of new snow was on the ground (3.8" of it fell today). And today's high/low was just 30/21, seventeen degrees below average.
March 19 - After 3.8" of snow fell yesterday afternoon and evening, an additional 7.8" fell today (thru late afternoon). Temperatures stayed in the mid-20s all day. In the past four days 18.3" of snow fell from two storms (6.7" fell on 3/16-17) and temperatures were 15 degrees below average. By contrast, until four days ago just eight inches of snow had fallen all winter.
March 25 - Today's high/low of 34/18 was eighteen degrees below average.
April 3 - This was the 23rd day in a row with colder than average temperatures. During this streak temperatures were nine degrees below average.
April 8 - Rain from yesterday's nor'easter turned to snow after 3AM and by late afternoon 4.2" of snow was on the ground - yet the temperature never got lower than 33°. This was the third significant snowfall in the past four weeks, a period in which 25" of snow fell, an unprecedented amount for so late in the season. Up until mid-March the winter had seen just eight inches. Not surprisingly, this snowy period was also cold, with temperatures 6.4 degrees below average.
April 28 - Today's high of 84° was the first time in six months that the temperature rose above 70°. This is also the latest date for a year's first reading of 70+ in the second half of the century.
June 14 - With a high/low of 99/76, today was the hottest day of the year. The high was a record for the date, twenty degrees above average. This was the first summer since 1951 not to have a reading in the triple digits. Today was part of a four-day heat wave that was book-ended by a chilly high/low of 66/56 on June 10 and 66/55 on June 20.
July 6 - Although yesterday was cool (high/low of 66/58), today was even cooler as the high/low was just 61/57 under gray skies and winds from out of the northeast. The day's high was 22 degrees below average.
October 8 - On the afternoon that the Yankees' Don Larsen pitched a perfect game in World Series Game 5 against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Yankee Stadium, skies were clear and temperatures were in the seasonable mid-to-upper 60s.
October 31 - 2.41" of rain fell, making this the rainiest Halloween on record (3.30" rain was measured at LaGuardia Airport). And although the bulk of the rain occurred between 10AM and 3PM, when 1.74" fell, rain was still falling in the evening hours (0.33" was measured between 6-10PM). Until today October had received just 1.20" of rain. This was the biggest rainstorm of the year.
1957
January 15 - Today's high/low was a frigid 12/0, making it the coldest day of the winter. Light snow moved in after dark and continued until early afternoon on the 16th, accumulating 4.9" (two inches fell today).
February 1 - A quick-moving snowstorm dumped 6.3" of snow between 1:00 and 10:00 PM. This was the biggest snowfall of the winter.
March 10 - For the fourth day in a row the high was 39° (eight degrees below average); however, every day had a different low temperature. Today was the only day of the four that had sunny skies.
April 21 - This was the first Easter Sunday since 1871 to have a high in the 80s, and at 85° it was the warmest on record (until 1962). By contrast, yesterday's and tomorrow's highs were in the mid-60s.
May 14 - I was born today in the pre-dawn hours. Although temperatures on 5/13 and 5/15 were unseasonably warm (mid-80s), today's temperatures were at seasonable levels. Rain moved in as evening approached and it fell heavily between 9-11:00 when two inches was measured. In total 2.55" fell and it was over before midnight. This rainstorm accounted for two-thirds of the month's rain and was the biggest rainstorm of the year.
July 21 - Today's high reached 100°, making this the fifth summer of the past six to have at least one high in the triple digits - the highest concentration on record. (Last year was the only year of the six not to reach 100° - it's hottest reading was 99°.) Tomorrow's high would reach 101° and would be the last 100-degree day until 1966.
December 4 - Snow that started falling late last night continued overnight and after a five-hour break resumed later in the morning and accumulated 8.0". The flakes came down heaviest between 11AM and 2PM when they fell at a rate of an inch per hour. This was the most snow to fall so early in the season since 1938, when 8.8" piled up on Nov. 24-25. And it was the first of six snowfalls of four inches or more this winter.
1958
Feb. 14 - Today's high/low of 25/13 came in the midst of an 11-day streak (which began on 2/8) in which high temperatures failed to get above 32°.
Feb. 17 - It was a bitterly cold day that saw temperatures stuck in the single digits, largely due to mostly overcast skies. The high was only 10°, which occurred shortly after midnight; the day's low of 6° was reached 24 hours later, shortly before midnight. This was the ninth day in a row with high temperatures colder than 30°.
Feb. 20 - Today's high was 33°, the first day since Feb. 7 with a high above freezing. The twelve days from Feb. 8 thru Feb. 19 had a high/low of 24/13, thirteen degrees colder than average.
March 20 - An intense nor'easter brought winds of 35-45 mph along with heavy, wet snow that began shortly before daybreak and continued thru midday on the 21st. 4.7" fell today and 7.1" the following day. However, today's temperature never got colder than 33°. Philadelphia also picked up nearly a foot of snow from this storm, which buried parts of eastern and central Pennsylvania and upstate New York with 30 to 40 inches of snow.
April 6 - 2.19" of rain fell today, making this the rainiest Easter Sunday on record. Most of the rain fell between 9AM and 4PM.
July 2 - Today's high of 93° was the hottest reading of the year. The last time a year's hottest temperature was this low, or cooler, was in 1927, when the hottest reading was 92°.
August 5 - Morning lows of the past five days: 67° (on 8/1)-68°-69°-70°-71° (today).
December 11 - With a high of 23/14 (eighteen degrees below average), today was the coldest day of a 10-day cold wave (between Dec. 7-16) in which every day had a sub-freezing high temperature. And the day seemed even colder because of overcast skies.
December 16 - This was the tenth day in a row with a sub-freezing high temperature. During this unprecedented early cold wave the average high/low was 29/19, thirteen degrees below average.
December 24 - Today was the last day of a two-week cold wave that had temperatures that were 12 degrees below average. Today's high/low was 28/14, and was the tenth day in a row with a high of 32° or colder.
1959
February 2 - The morning low of 7° was the coldest reading of the winter.
February 20 - High temperatures of the past three days: 44° on 2/18, 33° yesterday and 22° today. And although Feb. 2 had the coldest reading of the winter, today's high/low of 22/8 produced the coldest mean temperature.
March 12 - A mix of snow and sleet produced the biggest accumulation of snow/ice of the winter, with 5.5" piling up by the time it ended early in the afternoon. This icy precipitation was blown around by winds that gusted between 30 and 35 mph.
June 1 - Today's chilly high of 64°, under mostly overcast skies, followed a five-day warm spell at the end of May that had highs that averaged 87° (13 degrees above average). Today's conditions were the result of a back-door cold front that moved in from New England last night.
June 24 - High temperatures over the past five days: 85-84-83-82-81 (today).
June 29 - Today's high of 97° was the hottest reading of the summer, but tomorrow, with a high/low of 93/79, had the hottest mean temperature.
July 20 - This was the rainiest day of the year, with 1.80" of rain measured. Most of it (1.57") fell during a severe thunderstorm between 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon.
July 24 - 11 of the past 14 days had some rain, which amounted to 4.28". Nearly an inch of rain fell this afternoon between 2:30 and 3:30 during a strong thunderstorm. It was also a hot day, with the high reaching 90°
August 29 - Today was the end of a two-and-half-week period that had twelve days in the 90s (including today) and an average high/low of 89/72 (seven degrees above average). This hot spell, at the time, helped make this the fifth hottest August on record (it's now fallen to fifteenth).
September 24 - With a high of 89°, this was the third day in a row of summertime heat. Yesterday's high was 90° and the day before that it was 89°. The average high this time of year is in the low 70s. Today's high was a record (which still stands).
September 30 - After one of the hottest Augusts on record the unseasonably warm weather continued in September, which tied Sept. 1931 as the second warmest (it's now tied for fifth). The month's temperature patterns were divided into three ten-day periods. The first ten days were eight degrees above average, the middle ten were six below average, and then the last ten days were nine above average. Today, with a high of 82/70, was twelve degrees above average, and the low was what the average high is.
October 1 - For the fourth day in a row the low temperature was in the 70s at a time of the year when lows are typically in the mid-50s.
October 6 - Under mostly clear skies today's high soared to 88°, twenty degrees above average, as the unseasonable warmth of August and September continued into October.
October 11 - This was the twenty-first consecutive day with above average temperatures. During this three-week period temperatures were 9.5 degrees above average, with an average high/low of 81/65 (more like the end of August); twelve days were in the 80s.
November 18 - Today's high/low of 33/21 made this the coldest day of the month (19 degrees below average). It would be five weeks before there was a colder day.
December 22 - Snow that began late in the afternoon yesterday continued thru 9AM today, adding 10.3" to yesterday's 3.4" for a total accumulation of 13.7". (By contrast, LaGuardia Airport picked up just 5.6".) Snow fell heaviest between 1-6AM when six inches accuated. The day's temperatures were well below average, with a high/low of 28/17.mul
December 23 - Today's high/low of 23/9 (eighteen degrees below average) made this the coldest day of the winter of 1959-60.
December 28 - With a high/low of 34/14, today was the fifteenth day since Nov. 30 that was 10 degrees or more colder than average. During this nearly four-week period the mean temperature was nine degrees below average.
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