New York City Weather Archive

Today in New York Weather History - May 20

• 1978 - Today's high of 90 degrees was the first 90-degree eading of the year.  It came just three days after three days in a row (5/15-17) had highs in the 50's.  The next 90-degree day wouldn't be for another month (6/19). 

 

• 1996 - Today, with a high/low of 96/74, was the hottest day of the year.  The high was also a record for the date.  Incredibly, there would be only two more 90-degree days for the rest of the year. 

 

 

• 2000 - Today's rainy and raw conditions made the five-day heat wave of May 5-9 a distant memory.  Today's high was just 51, twenty-one degrees chillier than average.  By contrast, the high on May 9 was 93, twenty-four degrees above average.

 

• 2002 - This morning's chilly low of 43 was a record for the date.  (Yesterday was even colder, at 41 degrees, but it wasn't a record.)  

Today in New York Weather History: May 19

• 1976 - It was a raw and chilly day, more like March 19, with a high/low of only 52/38.  This was eighteen degrees below average.  Morning showers made the day feel even colder.

 

• 1997 - Today was the only day of the month that warmed into the 80's (high was 83), the fewest such days since May 1983, which had none. (2003 and 2005 would also have no 80-degree days.)  This lack of 80-degree temperatures helped make this the chilliest May in thirty years. 

Today in New York Weather History: May 18

 

• 2000 - 0.66" of rain fell in a 30-minute period (6-6:30 PM) and within that half hour 0.44" fell during the fifteen minutes between 6:15-6:30.

 

 

• 2001 - A pre-dawn shower that amounted to just 0.07" of rain ended an extended dry spell of twenty-six days, the second longest dry spell in the 1979-2012 period.  (Only a 35-day drought that occurred two years earlier in May/June 1999 was longer.)  Then, between May 21-29, rain fell on eight of the nine days, amounting to two inches. 

 

• 2011 - Today was the 4th day in a row with rain, and it culminated with a record amount for the date - 2.18".  The four-day rain total of 3.91" accounted for 3/4 of the month's total rainfall.  This was the 4th year since 2000 that more than an inch of rain fell on this date.  Also, today's amount was double the amount that fell last year on this date.  

 

Today in New York Weather History: May 17

 

• 1989 - 3.35" fell during a rainstorm that began the previous day.  Rain fell for twenty-nine consecutive hours and ended shortly before 9:00 this morning.  Today's rain total of 1.09" was a record for the date, a relatively low amount for such a designation.

 

1991 - Today's high was 83, the seventh day in a row with a high temperature of 80 degrees or warmer.  The average high during this week was 84, thirteen degrees above average. 

Today in New York Weather History: May 16

• 1989 - Just before daybreak 0.58" of rain poured down in one hour, between 5:23-6:23 AM. 

 

• 1990 - 2.32" of rain fell, with much of it after 7PM.  A year earlier on the same date, 2.30" fell.

 

• 2001 - This was the 25th day in a row without precipitation, making it the second longest rainless streak in the 1979-2012 period, passing two streaks of 24 days in Jan/Feb 1980 and August 1995. 

 

• 2007 - I celebrated my 50th birthday two days after the actual date with an evening dinner party at a Venezuelan restaurant in Greenwich Village.  Unlike my 40th birthday, which had beautiful weather, this year featured thunderstorms between 3-9PM that dropped 0.83" of rain.

 

• 2012 - Overnight showers, amounting to 0.09", made this the 7th year out of the past nine in which some rain fell on this date. 

Today in New York Weather History: May 14

• 1978 - The biggest rainstorm of the year dumped 3.58" of rain thru 3AM on 5/15.  It came down heaviest between 10:30AM and 4PM when 2.53" fell.  The 3.38" that fell today was a record for the date.

 

• 1991 - 0.51" of rain thundered down in 20 minutes during a nighttime thunderstorm (10:25-10:45 PM).

 

• 1997 - Sunny skies and pleasant temperatures were Mother Nature's gift to me on my 40th birthday (high/low of 70/49).

 

• 2002 - The .05" of rain that fell between midnight and 1:30AM was the first precipitation on this date in 11 years.

 

• 2007 - Today was my 50th birthday and the high/low of 70/49 was the same as it was on my 40th birthday!

Today in New York Weather History: May 12

 

• 2001 - After the first twelve days of May were twelve degrees warmer than average with no rain, the rest of the month would experience temperatures four degrees below average and two inches of rain.  

 

• 2004 - 1.45" of rain fell, with most of it falling between 1-7PM.  The air had a tropical feel to it, with a high/low was 86/65. 

 

• 2006 - 1.53" of rain fell between midnight and 6AM.  It came down especially hard between 1-3:00 when 0.95" poured down. 

 

• 2008 - A showery Monday morning (0.33") was followed by a raw and chilly afternoon.  This was the 6th year of the past seven in which rain fell on this date.  Today's high/low of 54/45 was eleven degrees chillier than average.

 

• 2010 - Today's high temperature was just 48, twenty-two degrees colder than average.  The temperature was kept down due to overcast skies and showers.  This was the chilliest high temperature since March 27. 

 

• 2011 - This was the last of a 7-day stretch of splendid springtime weather, conditions that made it a delight to stroll along the streets of Manhattan.  Under sunny skies, temperatures each day were in the low-to-mid-70's, four degrees above average.

Today in New York Weather History: May 10

• 1970 - Today's high was 93 degrees, making this the hottest Mother's Day on record.

 

• 1979 - For the second day in a row the high temperature was a record 94 degrees. 

 

• 1989 - A steady, all-day rain (heaviest between 10AM-8PM) amounted to 2.10".  Besides being very wet, the day was also very chilly, with a high/low of only 53/46, eleven degrees below average.

 

• 1990 - One year after more than two inches of rain fell on this date, 1.67" of rain fell, most of it coming during thunderstorms between 2-10PM, fell today.  

 

• 2000 - After three days in a row with 90-degree highs, today saw a return to reality as the morning low was 51 degrees. 

 

• 2012 - The rain that fell mostly before daybreak made this the eighth day of the past ten in which some rain fell, totaling 1.84".     

A Look Back at New York Weather: May 8

 

• 1980 - Today's chilly high of 56, twelve degrees below average, came three days after a high of 90.

 

• 1984 - This was the fourth day in a row with a high temperature of 69 degrees (one degree above average).  And three of the mornings had lows of 53 (two degrees above average). 

 

• 2000 - Today's high was 91, the second day in a row in which a record was set. 

 

• 2011 - It was a near-perfect Mother's Day, with a high of 74, five degrees milder than average.  Bright sunshine in the morning gave way to a mix of sun and puffy cumulus clouds during the afternoon.  

 

• 2013 - Nearly two-and-a-half inches of rain poured down during morning rush hour - twelve times the amount that fell in the previous twenty-five days (0.19").  Including additional showers that moved thru at lunchtime, 3.02" fell in total, equal to the amount measured during the previous eight weeks.  Manhattan was the bulls-eye for this torrential rain - the biggest rain storm since September 2011, and the most rain to fall in a 24-hour period in May since 1978.  Additionally, today's amount was a record for the date, breaking the previous one set in the 19th century.

Today in New York Weather History: May 7

 

• 2000 - Today's high of 93, a record for the date, was the hottest reading of the entire year.  It was also the first of just seven 90-degree readings in 2000, well below the average of eighteen.   

 

• 2001 - The morning low of 43 degrees came three days after a high of 92.

 

• 2009 - Rain fell for the seventh day in a row, a period in which 3.81" fell (1.06" fell today).  Then for the rest of the month just 1.16" would fall.