New York City Weather Archive

Today in New York Weather History: December 11

• 1988 - A blustery and very cold day.  With a high of 29 (15 degrees colder than average), today was the first day of the winter with a maximum temperature below freezing.  And by midnight the temperature had plummeted to 12 degrees.  

 

• 1992 - A vicious nor'easter pounded NYC this Friday morning with wind gusts of 50-75 mph (Central Park had a 64 mph gust) and heavy rain (2.41", a record for the date).  The high winds created a storm surge that flooded New Jersey's PATH stations and pushed the East River up over parts of the FDR Drive during morning rush hour.  The winds also caused elevators to malfunction in some office towers and high rise apartment buildings.

 

1993 - The first snowfall of the season dropped a surprise 2.9" on Saturday afternoon.  Temperatures fell all day, from the upper 40's during the morning to 22 degrees by midnight. 

 

• 2002 - Fourteen of the past fifteen days were colder than normal, with temperatures 8 degrees below average (high of 38/ low of 27).  This afternoon a cold rain fell, measuring 1.11".

 

• 2008 - An all-day rain that continued overnight into the next day dumped 2.35" today and 3.28" overall.  Most of it fell after 6PM.

 

• 2009 - Windy and quite cold.  Today's high of 29 degrees was the first high temperature below freezing this winter. 

 

• 2011 - Today was the first colder than average day in three weeks as the high/low of 39/29 was five degrees below average.  Between November 20 and yesterday temperatures were 7.4 degrees above average.

 

A Look Back at New York Weather History: November 7

• 1977 - One of New York's greatest rainstorms began this morning and continued through tomorrow afternoon.  The first wave of rain that moved through today, largely between 9AM and 5PM, amounted to 1.79".  However, the steady downpours that made this a historical storm would fall the next day.

 

• 1995 - The 0.68" of rain that fell between noon and 10PM was the first rain on this date in 15 years.

• 2012 - Just nine days after the region was raked by hurricane Sandy's high winds and record storm surge, a nor'easter lashed the area.  It moved far enough off the coast to pull cold air into the area, changing the rain to snow by 2PM.  This was just the fifth snowfall of one-inch+ to occur in November in the past 40 years - and the first since 1997.  4.7" fell (4.3" of it today), making it the earliest 4-inch snowfall on record (the previous record was in 1989 when 4.7" fell on Nov. 22-23).  It was also the largest accumulation of the calendar year, topping the 4.3" that fell on January 21.  

Today in New York Weather History: Halloween (October 31)

 

• 1984 - Temperatures during the past two weeks were 10 degrees above average.  Half of the days had highs in the 70's (average high should be around 60 degrees).

 

• 1988 - This morning's low of 31 degrees was the earliest sub-freezing reading since 1976.

 

• 1989 - A rainy Halloween.  Over a 12-hour period (10A-10P), 0.89" fell.  On the positive side, it was the 6th day in a row with temperartures 10 degrees or more above average. 

 

1991 - An intense nor'easter (made famous by Sebastian Junger's book The Perfect Storm) brought gusty 30-40 mph winds but stayed far enough off the coast that NYC received just a a trace of rain.  

 

• 1994 - Today's high of 73 degrees made this the warmest Halloween in the years I've lived in NYC (since 1979).

 

• 2007 - This October tied 1947's as the mildest on record, a whopping 7 degrees above average.  And today was one of the twenty-five days this month with above-average temps (high/low of 64/49, +five degrees).

 

• 2009 - It was a very mild day (high of 71 degrees) but light rain began falling just as the Greenwich Village Halloween parade was getting underway.  Although just 0.17" fell over five hours, this was the first rain to fall on Halloween night in 14 years.    

 

• 2012 - Last year many of New York's suburbs postponed or cancelled trick-or-treating because of power outages caused by an unprecedented snowstorm two days earlier.  This year most Halloween festivities were once again cancelled, this time it was due to power outages caused by superstorm Sandy which struck on 10/29.  And for the first time in its 43-year history Greenwich Village's Halloween parade was also cancelled.  The day itself was chilly and mostly overcas, with a high of 50 degrees. 

Today in New York Weather History: October 29

• 1973 - A heavy, all-day rain amounted to 3.67", a record for the date.  Up until today just 0.03" had fallen this month, and it was twenty-seven days ago.

• 2000 - Although it was just 0.01", the rain that fell today was the first on this date since 1984 (when just 0.02" fell).

• 2003 - Up until October 27 it had been a very dry month, with just 1.26" of rainfall measured.  Then 3.62" fell in the past three days, including 1.63" that fell today.

• 2011 - An intense nor'easter lashed the area with high winds and outrageously early snowfall.  The 2.9" of heavy, wet snow that was measured in Central Park was the most to ever fall in October (5.2" fell in Newark and over a foot buried northern NJ, parts of NY state, CT, western MA and NH).  Since the temperature never fell below freezing, there was mostly just slushy accumulation on City streets.  However, the day's low of 33 degrees, which occurred in the early afternoon, was the coldest reading in October since 1988.  Total liquid precipitation from the storm was two inches.  Remarkably, the next measurable snow wouldn't be for another twelve weeks (4.3" fell on January 21, 2012).

• 2012 - Unbelievably, an even more devastating storm than last year's nor'easter - hurricane/nor'easter Sandy - struck between noon and midnight.  And it more than lived up to its hype.  Although the rain wasn't the issue (less than an inch fell), its 60-80 mph wind gusts and record storm surge wreaked havoc on New York's transportation system and power grid.  Not only did the storm surge strike at high tide, but also during a full moon, resulting in flooding never experienced before in Manhattan.   

Today in New York Weather History: October 28

 

• 1984 - The City basked in a balmy 79 degrees, the warmest reading of the month.  (In a case of flip-flop, the month's chilliest reading occurred at the beginning of the month.)  Later that night 0.28" of rain fell during a 5-minute downpour (10:45-10:50 PM) and 0.88" between 10:00 and midnight.

• 1986 - It was a gloriously sunny and and mild day (high of 68 degrees), perfect for the tickertape parade in lower Manhattan celebrating the Mets World Series championship the night before over the Red Sox.  The sunny skies were particularly welcome after three damp and gloomy days.

• 1989 - Today's high of 77 degrees tied with two days ago as the warmest temperature of the month.

• 1995 - 1.21" of rain fell in the morning, the fourth rainfall this month that exceeded one inch.  Each storm occurred about a week apart and delivered a combined 7.13".  0.86" of today's rain came down between 4:00 and 5AM.

2006 - A nor'easter that moved in last night dumped 2.54" by the time it exited around 1:00 this afternoon.  Shortly before the last raindrops fell a final rain band dumped 0.33" in a 5-minute period between 12:32-12:37 PM. 

• 2008 - 2 inches of rain fell, with the greatest amount (0.87") falling between 9-11AM.  Besides the rain it was also unseasonably chilly, with a high of only 47 and a low of 39. 

• 2009 - 1.29" of rain fell thru mid-afternoon, making this the third year of the past four to receive more than an inch of rain.

• 2012 - The entire Mid-Atlantic region was feverishly preparing for the worst as hurricane Sandy approached.  For the second time in 14 months New York City's entire transit system was shut down thru tomorrow.  To add insult to injury, today was the sixth day in a row with overcast skies.         

Today in New York Weather History: October 19

 

• 1996 - A nor'easter dumped 4.35" of rain, forcing postponement of Game 1 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium between the Braves and Yankees.  Half of the rain came down between 2-5PM, with 1.07" falling in the hour between 3-4:00.  Not surprisingly, this was a record rainfall for the date.

 

• 2004 - Damp and chilly with a high of 51/low of 48.  The 0.70" of rain that fell accounted for more than half of the month's paltry total of 1.15".  This followed a very wet September (11.51").

Today in New York Weather History: July 24

 

• 1983 - Today's high was 76 degrees, the only day this month that didn't have a high of 80 or warmer.  A typical July has six days with afternoon highs cooler than 80 degrees.

 

• 1991 - Nine of the past ten days had highs in the 90's; four days were 99 degrees or hotter.  In addition to today's heat ("only" 90), a late afternoon thunderstorm dropped 0.39" of rain in an hour (4-5PM).

 

1997 - An out-of-season nor'easter dumped 3.75" of rain, the rainiest 24-hour period on record for the month of July.  (Rain that fell after midnight brought the storm's total rainfall to 4.62".)  Rain was heaviest between 7:21-8:21PM when 0.94" fell.  With winds out of the east/northeast it was also a very cool day; the high of 68/low of 58 was fifteen degrees below average.

 

• 2010 - Today's high was a record 97 and the heat index reached 105.  Late in the afternoon I went to a baseball game on Staten Island to see the farm teams of the Mets (the Brooklyn Cyclones) and Yankees play and I was drenched in sweat before the game even began.  There was no breeze to speak of.  Even at 11PM the temperature was still a sweltering 88.       

 

• 2011 - Today was the eighth day of the past nine with a high in the 90's.  And the one day that didn't reach 90 had a high of 89.  During these nine days the average high was 95 degrees (including 104 on 7/22 and 100 on 7/23). 

 

Today in New York Weather History: June 6

 

• 1989 - During an afternoon thunderstorm, 1.18" of rain fell in just half an hour (1:30-2PM).

 

• 2000 - A rare June nor'easter dumped 2.62" of rain, with 1.10" of it falling between 6:30-9:30AM.

 

• 2002 - 0.32" of rain poured down in just 10 minutes between 7:50-8PM.

 

• 2010 - Today was the eighth day in a row in which afternoon temperatures rose into the mid-to-upper 80's (but no 90's).  These readings were ten degrees above average.