Highlights: The blizzard of April 6, 1982 dumped nearly 10 inches of snow; four inches of snow fell on April 4, 2003; a nor'easter on April 13-14, 2007 flooded the City with more than eight inches of rain; three consecutive 90-degree days occurred in mid-April 2002, including one 96 degree reading; other 90-degree weather has occurred in 1990, 1991, 2009 and 2010.
1963 - Up until today just 0.39" of rain had fallen in April and it appeared it would become the driest on record. However, an all-day rain brought 0.89" and the month ended up tied for third driest April. Today's rainfall was a record for the date, which is the 2nd smallest amount for a daily record (Sept. 9's daily record is 0.86", back in 1902).
2012 - The final nine days of April all had chillier than average temperatures - the longest such streak since the end of March last year. But despite these below average condtions, the month was the unprecented thirteenth in a row with above average temperatures.
2013 - With a high/low of 68/51, today's mean temperature was two degrees above average, just enough to move the month's mean temperature from 0.1 degree below average to right at the average. Thus, it joined August 1999 and August 1985 as the only months since 1979 to have a mean temperature on par with the monthly average. April's high was 0.1 above average; the low was 0.1 below average. However, what was far from average was the month's precipitation, which amounted to just 1.31". This was 71% below the norm of 4.51", making it the 5th driest April on record (and the driest in 50 years).
1990 - The day's temperature soared from 51 to 91.
1994 - 0.41" of rain fell during a twenty-minute thunderstorm later in the afternoon (4:27-4:47 PM). After a cool start (low of 50), it turned into a warm day as the high reached 82.
2007 - 2.07" of rain, a record for the date, brought April's rainfall total to 13.05".
2009 - Today's high reached 92 degrees, a record for the date and twenty-seven degrees above average. It came just three days after a cool high of 57. It would be nearly four months before it got this hot again. This was the second day of a four-day springtime heat wave that saw high temperatures of 88-92-84-90. (The typical high in late April is in the mid-60's.)
2002 - A steady rain, amounting to 0.55", fell during the afternoon - the first rain on this date in 12 years. One week after a heat wave with temperatures 30 degrees above average, today was chilly, with a high/low of 52/43.
2007 - For the 6th year in a row rain fell on this date as mid-afternoon showers amounted to 0.14".
2009 - What a spectacular start to my summer share out at Fire Island as the afternoon high soared to 88 (in NYC) after a low of 52 degrees.
2010 - After just 0.61" of rain fell in the first twenty-four days of the month, 1.60" poured down today.
2001 - After soaring to 87 degrees in the early afternoon (the warmest reading of the month), a cold front moved through and by midnight the temperature had fallen to 52. The colder air was made even chiller by winds gusting between 30-40 mph. This was the third day in a row with 80-degree temperatures, and today's high was the warmest in more than eight months (since August 9). This was also the warmest reading in April in ten years,
2011 - With a high of 80 (sixteen degrees above average), this was the warmest Easter Sunday since 1976 (when the high was a sizzling 96!). However, showers between 6-9PM put somewhat of a damper on the day. The 0.50" of rain that fell was the most on Easter Sunday since 1996.
April 22 is the average day of the year's first 80-degree reading. In the years 1979-2012 it has occurred as early as March 13 (in 1990) and as late as May 23 (1984 and 1988).
2000 - This was the third day in a row of nearly identical, chilly highs and lows: 49/44, 50/44 and 49/44 (today).
2001 - Today was the first of 26 days in a row with no measurable rain in Central Park, the second longest stretch of rainless days in the 1979-2012 period. (The longest dry streak in this period was 35 day set two years earlier.)
2006 - My summer share out at Fire Island began this weekend but I didn't go out because a whole lot of rain fell over the course of two days, 1.23" today and 2.34" tomorrow. This was the most rain from one storm in six months. It was also very chilly as the high only reached 47, sixteen degrees below average. This was the second year in a row in which opening weekend was a washout.
2012 - A steady light rain during the daytime hours turned heavy after dark and was whipped around by gale force winds as a powerful nor'easter made itself known. The brunt of the storm was felt from 8:00-midnight and conditions greatly improved by 2AM. The 2.89" of rain that was measured in Central Park was greater than the paltry rainfall of the previous nine weeks. Of the storm's total, 2.45" fell today and was a record for the date.
1981 - A late cold snap dropped the morning low to 31 degrees, the latest date of a freezing temperature in New York City in the 1979-2012 measurement period. This came a year after a low of 32 was reported on 4/17. (However, it's not unknown for outlying suburbs of NYC to have subfreezing lows into May.) Interestingly, the warmest temperature this month, 81 degrees, came at the beginning of April. This morning's frosty low was the coldest reading since March 21.
1991 - A steady, cold rain, sometimes on the heavy side, fell throughout the day and amounted to 2.28" - a record for the date. The high was only 46, seventeen degrees below average.
2000 - My flight to Pittsburgh, for an Easter visit to see my mother, was delayed by six hours due to inclement weather in the Mid-Atlantic states. 1.62" of rain fell, with more than half of it coming down between noon-3PM. It was also chilly as the high got up to just 49, fourteen degrees below average.
2007 - Today's high of 79, sixteen degrees above average, came after a seasonable low of 45.
2012 - Under sunny skies, today's high reached 71, the last day this month to be in the 70's. April had seven 70-degree days in total, one fewer than March.
1972 - The temperature at 4PM was a quite chilly 43 degrees, a drop of forty-three degrees from yesterday afternoon's 4PM reading of 86.
2005 - Today's high and low of 87/64 was 22 degrees above average, making this the warmest day of the month. It would be seven weeks before a hotter temperature was reached (93 degrees on June 8).
2009 - Rain during the PM hours dumped 1.79", with 0.87" falling between 8:19-10:19 PM. More precipitation fell today than in the entire month of March (1.75"). Temperatures were on the chilly side, with a high/low of 50/42, eight degrees below average.
1978 - The 1.96" of rain that fell between 8:30AM and 9PM accounted for much of the month's precipitation. It was also a record amount for the date. Today's high got up to only 50 degrees, twelve degrees below average.
1983 - 0.8 inches of snow fell in Central Park, the City's latest measurable snowfall in 100 years (0.5" fell on April 24, 1883). However, despite the snow, a cold rain was the main feature of the day. The high/low of 43/34 made this the chilliest day of the month.
1985 - Today's high of 88 was a rebound of 43 degrees from yesterday morning's low of 45.
1992 - This was the fourth day in a row with nearly identical high/low temperatures: 47/40, 46/41, 47/40 and 47/41 (today). These chilly highs were sixteen degrees colder than average.
2002 - It appears Mother Nature cut & paste a summer heat wave in the midde of the spring as the high/low of the past four days averaged 92/71, 26.5 degrees above normal. After highs in the 90's the previous three days, today "cooled down" to 89. The next 90-degree day wouldn't be for another two months (June 26).
2004 - The afternoon temperature soared to 85 after a morning low of 48.
2007 - Today was the 16th, and last, day in a row with colder than average temperatures, the longest such string of days during springtime in the years I've lived in NYC (since 1979). During this streak the mean temperature was 8 degrees chilllier than average. Nine days had lows in the 30's.
2013 - 0.05" of rain fell this evening, one year after 0.04" fell on this date and two years after 0.03" fell.
