New York City Weather Archive

Today in New York Weather History: May 21

 

• 1985 - Heavy rain fell between 4-10PM, amounting to 1.60".  During one 15-minute period (between 5:55-6:10 PM), 0.48" of rain thundered down.

 

• 1996 - This was the second day in a row with a record high as the mercury topped out at 93.  The next 90-degree day wouldn't be for another two months (and it was the only other such day of the summer.)  

 

• 2002 - This was the last of four consecutive days with morning lows in the chilly low 40's, well below the average low of 55.

 

• 2012 - After four days in a row of sunny and mild weather, today was a gray, rainy Monday.  1.40" of rain fell, with a particularly heavy downpour occurring during AM rush hour, with 0.57" measured between 8-9:00.

 

• 2013 - Today was the second 80-degree day of the year, coming six weeks after our first 80-degree reading (4/9).  This was the greatest number of days between the first and second 80 in eight years, when there was one of 45 days.  (The longest gap in the 1970-2013 period was 51 days, which occurred twice, in 1989 and 1981.)

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 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.

Looking Back at New York Weather: April 30

• 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).

Today in New York Weather History: April 27

 

• 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".

Today in New York Weather History: April 25

• 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.

Today in New York Weather History: April 22

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. 

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Today in New York Weather History: April 20

A Glance Back at New York City Weather: April 21

 

• 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.