New York City Weather Archive

Today in New York Weather History: February 19

 

1972

A nor'easter packing 40 mph winds brought the biggest snowfall of the winter, 5.7", but it was part of a sloppy mix of snow, sleet and rain so there was never more than two to three inches of snow on the ground at any given time.  Temperatures didn't fall below freezing until evening (after peaking at 37° in the early afternoon).  In total, 1.64" of precipitation was measured, with nearly half of the amount falling in the two-hour period between 7:00 and 9AM. 

1979

A fast-moving snowstorm on Presidents' Day dumped 12.7" of snow between 4AM and noon.  The storm's deepest snows fell in Virginia, DC, Maryland and Delaware, where 18" to 24" piled up.  Besides the snow, this was the fifteenth day of the past nineteen with a high temperature of 32° or colder.  Including today's snowfall, 20.1" of snow fell during these nineteen days.  (Another President's Day storm with even more snow would bury the region 24 years later.)

 

1980

The morning low of 28° made this the 31st day in a row with a low at freezing or colder.  There have been only six streaks longer than this in the years since 1960 (the most recent was one of 38 days during the winter of 2015).

1996

Morning lows over the past four days were: 22-21-22-21 (today) - eight degrees colder than average.  Today's high rebounded to 42°, marking the beginning of an extended thaw that would see temperatures average 14 degrees above average between Feb. 20-28.

1997

Today's high of 66° was a record for the date.  There would be two other records set, with even warmer highs, on 2/22 (69°) and 2/27 (72°). 

2000

Today's high/low was 32/29 with freezing rain between 1:00 and 3:00 AM (0.24" of liquid precipitation was measured).

2006

Today was the second coldest day of a mild winter as the high reached 30° after a low of 15°.  (The coldest day of the winter was back in mid-December).

2007

Thirteen of the past sixteen days had morning lows in the teens and eleven had highs at freezing or below.  Average high/low during these days was 30/17, 10.5 degrees colder than normal.

2013

The 0.15" of rain that fell during the afternoon was the first precipitation to fall on this date since 2000.

 

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Weather Highlights of Presidents' Day (1971-2019)

Since the Presidents' Day holiday was first observed on the third Monday of February in 1971, temperatures have ranged from 3° in 2015 to 64° in 2008.  There have been three consecutive Presidents' Days with highs of 32° or colder (1977-1979) and four in a row with highs of 50° or warmer (1981-1984).  The three coldest (based on mean temperature) were in 2015 (high/low of 21/3), 1987 (32/7), and 2003 (26/14).  The three warmest Presidents' Days were in 2008 (64/40), 1976 (60/43) and 1994 (53/42).  Here are some additional findings:

 

• The biggest temperature difference between two consecutive Presidents' Days was in 2007 and 2008 when a high/low of 30/12 was followed by a high/low of 64/40.  The closest in temperature was in 2009 and 2010 when the respective highs/lows were 40/28 and 40/27, and in 1981 and 1982 when the highs/lows were 57/34 and 56/33, respectively.

• The most years in a row with lows above freezing was five, from 1981 thru 1985.  Ironically, this streak was preceded by the coldest streak, the four-year period from 1977 thru 1980.  A five-year period from 2003 thru 2007 was also quite cold.

• Three of the coldest and two of the mildest readings on Presidents' Day have fallen on Feb. 16.  Additionally, five of the seven coldest readings have occurred during the 21st century.  Furthermore, three years in a row (2015-2017) had readings that were either among the coldest or mildest (2015, coldest on record; 2016, fourth coldest; and 2017, sixth mildest).  Lastly, the consecutive years 1981 and 1982 had two of the mildest high temperatures while 2003 and 2004 had two of the coldest lows. (See chart below.)

• Measurable snow has fallen on Monday in just five years, but two of these snowfalls were major snowstorms.  In 2003 16.5" fell (and 3.5" on Sunday night) while in 1979 12.7" fell.  The other three snowfalls were in 2005 (3.5"), 2011 (3.2") and 2016 (1.4").

• The most consecutive years with measurable precipitation on Presidents Day is only two, and it's happened three times: 2018 and 2019; 2010 and 2011; and 1975 and 1976.  The most years in a row with no precipitation is six, from 1980 to 1985.

• Looking at the three-day Presidents' Day weekends, 1979 had the coldest one, averaging a high/low of 19/7 (along with a 12.7" snowstorm).  The two next coldest were in consecutive years: 24/6 in 2016 and 26/8 in 2015.   2017 had the mildest Prez Day weekend: 61/42, followed by 1994 with a high/low of 59/39.  There have been six years in which the lows for each day of the weekend were all 32° or milder (most recently in 2017) and four in which the highs were all 32° or colder (most recently in 2015).

• Finally, Presidents' Day weekend 2018 has the distinction of being the only one that reported measurable precipitation on all three days.  At the other end of the spectrum, the most holiday weekends in a row with no measurable precipitation on any of its days is three, 1981-1983.

 

  

 

 

Snowstorms From Back in "The Good Old Days" (1900 - 1949)

By far the most popular posts on this site are about snowstorms.  And after reading a recent photo essay in the New York Times about snowstorms of the distant past I was inspired to write another - this one about those that crippled New York in the first half of the 20th century.  It's worth noting that back then snow removal was on the primitive side, largely dependent upon on manual labor, so relatively modest accumulations created problems that might happen nowadays with significantly greater accumulations (i.e., six inches in 1910 might be comparable in inconvenience to what a foot or more of snow creates today).  Furthermore, since the work ethos of that era was different than what it is today, employers weren't as forgiving when treacherous weather conditions made it difficult for workers to get to their jobs.

 

WINTER OF 1901-02

Feb. 17, 1902 - This storm dropped 10".  (Similar to a few other winter storms in the first decade of the century, I was unable to find details about when the snow fell, what the hourly amounts were or what the wind speed and direction were for each hour of the day.)

 

WINTER OF 1902-03

Dec. 25, 1902- This was the second significant snowfall in the past two weeks.  After 6.4" fell on Dec. 12-14 (most of it falling on the 13th), 6.5" fell today. 

Feb. 15-17, 1903 - This was a snow and sleet storm, which began mid-day on the 15th, continued through much of the 16th, and ended mid-day on the 17th.  In total 9.8" accumulated (accounting for all of February's snow).  During the first two days temperatures ranged between 28° and 30° then fell into the teens around daybreak on the 17th.

 

WINTER OF 1903-04

Jan. 2-3, 1904 - All but a half-inch of the storm's eight inches fell today during the afternoon and evening.  Temperatures fell slowly thru the day, dropping from 26° to 13°. 

 

WINTER OF 1904-05

Dec. 17-18, 1904 - Bringing to mind December 1902, two significant snowfalls fell in the course of a week as seven inches fell on Dec. 12-13 and a half foot fell today.  Snowfall from both was pretty evenly split between the two days of each snowfall. 

Jan. 3-4, 1905 - Seven inches of snow fell between mid-afternoon on 1/3 and mid-morning the following day.  After passage of a cold front mid-morning on the 3rd (with winds shifting from the northeast to the northwest) temperatures fell from the low-40s to mid-20s, when snow began falling, and were in the mid-teens when the snow came to an end.  The snow was blown around by winds gusting between 25-30 mph. 

Jan. 24-25, 1905 - Snow began falling after 9PM and continued for 24 hours, accumulating 11".  It was a fluffy snow with just 0.54" of water content.  During the course of the storm the temperature dropped from mid-20s to low teens.  Snow fell heaviest between 8AM and noon on the 25th when an Arctic front moved through.  Besides the cold and snow, the afternoon also featured gusty winds (25-30 mph).

 

 

WINTER OF 1905-06

Feb. 8-9, 1906 - Six inches of snow fell, much of it during the morning of the 9th.  Temperatures were mostly in the 31° to 33° range.  Snow changed to sleet and freezing rain shortly after daybreak on the 9th and continued through mid-day. 

March 15, 1906 - This cold, late winter storm had temperatures that were only in the mid-20s (typical high for mid-March is mid-40s) as a half-foot of snow piled up.  Snow began falling shortly before daybreak and continued until 10PM.  Despite the cold temperatures it was a wet snow, with 1.09" of liquid measured.

 

WINTER OF 1906-07

Jan. 17, 1907 - It was very cold during this quick-moving six-inch snowfall, with temperatures in the mid-teens when the snow began, rising into the low 20s during the afternoon.  The snow fell during the daylight hours, coming down heaviest in the early afternoon.

Feb. 4-5, 1907 - Snow began around noon and continued for nearly 24 hours, accumulating 11".  It fell heaviest between 8PM and 4AM.  Temperatures stayed in a narrow range of 19° to 22°.  This storm followed a snowfall of four inches on the first two days of the month.

 

 

Feb. 24, 1907 - Six inches of snow piled up between 1PM and 10PM.  Temperatures rose steadily, from low 20s when the snow started, to the mid-30s when it changed to rain and sleet in the final few hours.

March 10, 1907 - Much of today's six-inch accumulation fell between 1:00 and 5PM.  Temperatures ranged between 27° and 30°.  This was the winter's fourth snowfall of six inches or more since mid-January.

 

WINTER OF 1907-08

Jan. 23-24, 1908 - A 10-inch snowstorm began after dark on the 23rd, with three inches measured thru midnight, and an additional seven inches during the morning of the 24th.

 

 

Feb. 5-6, 1908 - The day began bitterly cold with a low of 1° above zero (the coldest reading of the winter).  Then the temperature rose all day and was 32° by midnight.  Snow began falling in the afternoon and continued into the next day with four inches falling on each day.  After 8" had fallen the snow changed to rain as the temperature rose to 40° (it tumbled back to 29° by midnight).  This snowstorm came almost one year to the day of an 11-inch snowstorm.

 

WINTER OF 1909-10

Dec. 25-26, 1909 - Snow began mid-afternoon on Christmas Day and fell for nearly 24 hours, accumulating eight inches.  Much of the snow fell on the 25th, and in above-freezing temperatures.

Jan. 14, 1910 - The biggest snowfall of the winter blanketed the City with 10" (0.5" of it fell on 1/15).  This came three weeks after a snowfall of eight inches.  Snow began falling shortly after midnight and fell steadily through late afternoon.  After the temperature rose to 33° late in the morning it fell steadily until 9PM when it was 20°.

 

WINTER OF 1911-12  

Dec. 4, 1911 - A morning snowfall of seven inches ended up being the biggest snowfall of the winter.  Precipitation began yesterday evening as rain but changed to snow overnight. The day's high/low of 33/19 made this the coldest day of the month.

 

WINTER OF 1912-13

Dec. 24, 1912 - A morning snowstorm dumped 11.4", making this Christmas Eve's biggest snowfall on record.  Snow fell heaviest between 4-9AM, when it fell at a rate of 1.5" per hour.

 

 

WINTER OF 1913-14

Feb. 13-14, 1914 - On the 13th the temperature rose from -1° to the mid-20s by midnight.  Snow began falling after 7PM, fell heavily through the overnight hours and then changed to sleet around daybreak as the temperature rose into the low 30s.  9.7" accumulated.  Then on 2/16 there was a five-inch snowfall during the morning in temperatures that were in the teens.

March 1, 1914 - Rain in the morning changed to snow around lunchtime and by midnight 13.5" had accumulated (an additional inch fell after midnight on 3/2).  It was a very heavy, wet snow with a high water content (2.65") until around 9PM when Arctic air moved in.  This was the century's first snowstorm of a foot or more, and the first since February 1899, when 16 inches piled up.  This remains the longest period between snowstorms of 12 inches or more.

 

 

WINTER OF 1914-15

April 3, 1915 - The biggest snowfall of the "winter" blanketed the City on what was Easter Saturday as ten inches of heavy snow fell between 9AM and 11PM (eight inches fell between 11AM and 6PM).  During the storm winds from out of the north gusted to 25 mph and temperatures hovered around 30°, producing wind chills in the teens.

 

 

WINTER OF 1916-17

Dec. 15, 1916 - A snowstorm dumped 12.7" of snow between 7AM-9PM, with nearly ten inches on the ground by mid-afternoon.  The snow was very powdery, produced from just 0.59" of water (and by daybreak on 12/16 it had packed down to nine inches on the ground).  The day's high was 28°, the first of five days in a row with highs in the 20s.

April 9, 1917 - One of April's biggest snowstorms dumped 6.5" (0.1" of it fell late last night).  This brought the winter's total snowfall to 50.7" for the second year in a row.  The snow was over by 7AM and by noon the temperature was in the upper 30s, where it stayed for the remainder of the afternoon.  Combined with sunny skies, substantial melting took place and by nightfall there was less than two inches on the ground in Central Park.

 

WINTER OF 1917-18

Dec. 13, 1917 - The biggest snowfall of the winter began late in the afternoon and by the time the snow ended in the early hours of 12/14 9.5" had accumulated (eight inches fell today).  The temperature rose into the mid-30s as midnight approached, making it a very wet snow, with rain mixed in at times. 

 

 

WINTER OF 1919-20

Feb. 4-7, 1920 - One of New York's most extended onslaughts of winter weather of all time brought 72 hours of snow, sleet and freezing rain (beginning after 2AM on 2/4 and ending around dawn on 2/7).  During this punishing storm, 4.41" of liquid precipitation fell, 17.5" of it in the form of snow (five to six inches of snow fell on 2/4, 2/5 and 2/6); the rest was sleet and freezing rain.  For much of the storm temperatures were in the 20s, and winds gusted between 35 and 45 mph, with wind chills in the single digits.

 

 

WINTER OF 1920-21

Feb. 20, 1921 - The winter's biggest snowfall amounted to 12.5".  Beginning shortly after midnight as rain, it quickly changed over to snow after 1AM and continued until early evening; it was a very wet snow, with 2.68" of liquid precipitation measured.  The temperature fell slowly through the day, from 35° to 22° (on the way to 14° by daybreak on the 21st).  Winds gusted to 41 mph.

 

WINTER OF 1921-22

Jan. 28-29, 1922 - New York was on the northern fringe of a winter storm that became known as the "Knickerbocker Snowstorm", named after a movie theater in Washington, DC whose roof collapsed from the weight of snow the night of 1/28, killing 98 moviegoers.  And although NYC escaped the paralyzing amounts of snow that piled up in Virginia, DC, Maryland and southeastern PA (6.5" fell in Central Park, the biggest snowfall of the winter), gale force winds clocked at between 35 and 50 mph howled for nearly 24 hours, beginning mid-day on the 28th.  Temperatures throughout the storm were in the 29° to 31° range, with chills in the low teens.

 

WINTER OF 1922-23

Jan. 3-4, 1923 - The biggest snowfall of the winter began this afternoon and continued until daybreak on the 4th, accumulating nine inches.  The temperature fell slowly through the storm, dropping from 33° to 29°.

Jan. 14, 1923 - Snow began falling after 10AM and by 5PM 7.8" had accumulated; then it changed to light rain for the next three hours as the temperature rose into the mid-30s.

 

 

March 6-7, 1923 - Snow began falling around 10AM and continued light and steady for the next 24 hours, accumulating 7.3" (along with a mix with sleet and freezing rain after 4PM). This was the tenth snowfall of three inches or more this winter.  Besides the snow/ice, winds gusted to 30-35 mph, and temperatures were very cold on the 6th, with a high/low of only 25/19.

 

WINTER OF 1923-24

April 1, 1924 - It was no April Fool's joke as 8.5" of heavy, wet snow fell from mid-afternoon through 9PM.  Interestingly, snow fell mostly with temperatures two or three degrees above freezing.  Besides the snow, gale force winds gusted to 35 mph.

 

WINTER OF 1924-25

Jan. 2, 1925 - A blizzard dumped close to a foot of snow (11.5").  Snow began falling around daybreak and lasted until 11PM.  In addition to snow there were also periods of heavy sleet in the early afternoon.  Temperatures throughout the storm were in the mid-20s, but howling winds gusting between 35-40 mph produced wind chills in the single digits.

 

 

Jan. 20, 1925 - A fierce storm dumped seven inches of snow and ice, with much of the snow falling between 1:00 and 8AM before it changed to sleet, which was driven by winds that gusted close to 40 mph. The sleet came down heaviest during the mid-day hours as the temperature rose above freezing briefly before falling back into the 20s.  Snow returned in the storm's last few hours. 

 

WINTER OF 1925-26

Feb. 10, 1926 - Less than a week after a fierce blizzard brought 10.4" of snow and sleet (accompanied by wind gusts of 40-45 mph) another snowstorm dumped a foot on the City, much of it falling this morning between 3:00 and 9:00 (light snow began last night and accumulated 1.6").  Winds from this storm gusted between 30 and 35 mph.  Temperatures in the morning held steady in the low 20s and then fell slowly during the afternoon, reaching 11° by midnight.  (In a similar fashion, two snowstorms of 9.2" and 12.8" occurred just three days apart in early February during the winter of 1994.)

 

 

WINTER OF 1926-27

Dec. 5, 1926 - 7.9" of snow fell on a very cold day, which had a high/low of just 24/11.  Snow fell heaviest from 1PM until 7PM.  This was the biggest snowfall of the winter and was the snowiest 12/5 until 2003, when 8.0" fell.

 

WINTER OF 1928-29

Feb. 21, 1929 - More than half of the winter's 13.8" of snow fell today as eight inches accumulated between 5AM and 2PM.  Temperatures were in the low-to-mid-twenties during the storm.

 

WINTER OF 1932-33

Dec. 17, 1932 - Snow that began late in the morning continued through the early AM on 12/18 and amounted to 7.2".  It was also a very cold day, with a high/low of only 20/11.  (The snow was gone by Christmas Day, which had a high of 59°.)  The next measurable snowfall wouldn't be for another seven weeks (on 2/4).

Feb. 11, 1933 - In just eight hours (1-9:00 AM) ten inches of snow fell, the biggest snowstorm in seven years.  Sleet mixed in during the final few hours even though temperatures were in the low 20s.

 

 

WINTER OF 1933-34

Dec. 26, 1933 - A little more than 24 hours after temperatures were in the mid-50s, a snowstorm swept into the City shortly after daybreak and by early afternoon ten inches had fallen, and temperatures were in the mid-20s.  An additional inch of snow fell in the early evening, bringing the day's snowfall total to 11.2". (Much larger accumulations would later fall on this date in 1946 and 2010).

Feb. 25, 1934 - On a brutally cold day (high/low of 16/9) light snow began falling mid-afternoon and fell steadily thru the following afternoon, accumulating 9.3".  This was the third snowfall of 7.5" or more this month and brought February's total snowfall to 27.9" (the other major snowfalls were on 2/1 and 2/19-20).  At the time this was the second snowiest month on record (now ranked sixth) and the snowiest February (since topped by Feb. 2010 and 2014).

 

WINTER OF 1934-35

Jan. 22-23, 1935 - This was a two-stage storm.  On 1/22 precipitation began in the morning as rain which changed to snow around mid-day as the temperature fell from the low 40s into the upper 20s; five inches was measured.  Then after a 13-hour break, winds shifted from the northwest to northeast and heavy snow returned late on the morning of 1/23.  Between 1:00 and 7PM it fell at a rate of an inch or more per hour and accumulated nearly thirteen inches.  Flakes fell until the wee hours of the next day.  Temperatures fell slowly throughout the day, dropping from 26° to 18° (and they'd continue to fall slowly the following day).  This was the first snowstorm of a foot or more in nine years. 

 

 

 

WINTER OF 1935-36

Jan. 19, 1936 - A winter storm brought heavy snow, sleet and gusty winds.  After beginning as light rain late last night, nine inches of snow piled up in the morning (mostly between 3:00-9:00) and the afternoon saw an onslaught of sleet that was propelled by 25-35 mph winds, producing wind chills in the single digits (the air temperature was in the mid-20s).  The sleet accumulated 2.5".

 

 

WINTER OF 1937-38

April 6-9, 1938 - This was a sloppy four days of weather, with 6.4" of snow falling on April 6 and 7 (the biggest snowfall of the winter) and 0.95" of rain on April 8 and 9.  During these days temperatures were mostly in the 30s.  The low of 28° on 4/6 was the only April day in the 1930s with a low in the 20s.

 

WINTER OF 1938-39

Nov. 27, 1938 - Just six weeks after the latest 90-degree reading on record, back-to-back snowstorms dropped nearly 13 inches of snow in four days.  The first, on 11/24-25  measured 8.8" (3.9" on Thanksgiving Day, 4.9" the day after) while the snowfall that ended before dawn today (and began late last night) brought an additional four inches.  The high/low during these four days was 32/20, which was 18 degrees below average.  This was the snowiest month of the winter and the third snowiest November on record (after Nov. 1898 and 1882).

Jan. 13, 1939 - Beginning mid-afternoon, a snowfall of 8.8" (1.0" fell on 1/14) tied the Thanksgiving snowstorm of 11/24-25 as the biggest snowfall of the season.

 

WINTER OF 1939-40

Feb. 14, 1940 - It was a wintry day, as wind-blown sleet and snow fell throughout the day, accumulating 7.7" (an additional 1.3" fell overnight).  Late in the morning winds gusted to 50 mph.  Temperatures fell slowly, from the low-30s in the morning to low-20s by midnight.

 

WINTER OF 1940-41

March 8, 1941 - A fierce winter storm that began late last night brought heavy snow, sleet and high winds during the morning.  By 11AM 18.1" of snow had fallen (15.7" of it fell today); the precipitation then changed to light drizzle in the afternoon (the day's high was 33°).  At the time this tied with a snowstorm in January 1935 as New York's second biggest snowfall (it's now ranked tenth).

 

 

WINTER OF 1942-43

Jan. 28, 1943 - The winter's nastiest storm dropped 7.1" of snow and sleet, which was accompanied by northeasterly winds that gusted to 34 mph.  Precipitation began at daybreak and continued through early evening.

 

WINTER OF 1943-44

April 5, 1944 - Four days before Easter Sunday a late season snowstorm dumped 6.5".  Beginning as rain a little after midnight, it changed to snow around 2AM and mixed with sleet around lunchtime before ending in mid-afternoon.  The snow came down heaviest between 3-5AM when three inches accumulated.  The day's high/low was 34/29.

 

WINTER OF 1945-46

Dec. 19, 1945 - An afternoon/evening snowstorm dropped 8.3" (all but 0.3" fell today).  This would be the biggest snowfall of the winter (and since March 1941).  Besides the snow, temperatures were also quite cold, with a high/low of just 23/20 (fifteen degrees below average).

 

WINTER OF 1946-47

Feb. 21, 1947 - Snow that began yesterday evening (accumulating 4.2" by midnight) continued through this morning and piled up an additional 6.5".  This 10.7" snowfall was the biggest in six years.  Temperatures were very cold, with a high/low of 24/14, sixteen degrees below average.

 

 

 

WINTER OF 1947-48

Dec. 26, 1947 - Snow began falling around 3:30 AM on the 26th and fell steadily all day, at times at a rate of two inches per hour (the forecast at daybreak called for a five-inch accumulation).  Winds gusted as high as 36 mph during the evening and temperatures hovered around 29° for much of the storm.  By midnight 25.5" had piled up and an additional 0.9" fell after midnight, breaking the previous snowfall record of 21" set by the great blizzard of March 1888; it would remain the City's greatest snowfall of all time until 26.9" fell in February 2006 (it now ranks third).  This storm came three days after a snowfall of 2.5".

 

 

WINTER OF 1948-49

Dec. 19, 1948 - One year after the record-setting 26.4" snowstorm of Dec. 26 another formidable snowstorm crippled the City with 16.0".  At the time this was the shortest length of time between major snowstorms.  Since then there have been seven pairs of major snowstorms (of one foot or more) that have occurred with less than 12 months in between (the shortest time between being four weeks in January and February 1978.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winters With Snow Droughts Rather Than Snowdrifts

A number of years ago I published an analysis about periods of cold winter weather that had little snow (Cold & Dry: A Snow Lover's Nightmare).  This new post focuses on the longest periods between snowfalls regardless of temperature.  And while I refer to these snowless periods as "droughts" that's somewhat of a misnomer since a typical winter in New York sees, on average, just twelve days with measurable snow, so it's not uncommon for many days to go by between snowfalls (however, "drought" was catchier than "extended number of days between snowfalls").  But as I was pulling the information together I realized there were variations on snow droughts so I've included them as well.

 

 

WINTER-LONG DROUGHTS

There have been nine winters with less than ten inches of snow, the most recent being the winter of 2012 (the average snowfall of winters since 2000 has been 34").  In the 1950s there were six consecutive winters, from 1950 thru 1955, with less than 20 inches; and there were five in a row with less than 15 inches, from 1928 thru 1932.  The least snow to fall in back-to-back winters occurred in 1997 and 1998, which had only 10.0" and 5.5", respectively.  (By contrast, there have been 18 snowstorms with greater accumulations than those two winters combined.)

 

 

WITHIN-SEASON DROUGHTS

Since the winter of 1870 there have been eleven snow-free periods that lasted seven weeks or longer.  Two were in the 19th century and were in consecutive winters; all of the others have been since the winter of 1950.  The winter of 1953-54 stand outs for having two droughts among the eleven (that winter had 15.1" of snow).  The winter with the second longest drought, (1983) had the most snow, 27.2" (nearly 2/3 of the snow came from the blizzard of Feb. 17-18).

 

 

WINTERS IN WHICH ONE MONTH DOMINATED THE SEASON'S SNOWFALL

A number of winters had sparse snowfall in all months but one.  The most recent was in 2016 when January had New York's biggest snowfall of all time.  And it also happened in the back-to-back winters of 1925 and 1926. 

 

 

BIG SNOWFALLS FOLLOWED BY LENGTHY HIATUS

• It appeared the blizzard of Feb. 11-12, 1983 (17.6") would be the last snowfall of the winter, but then more than nine weeks later 0.8" fell on April 18.
• In the winter of 1892 an eight-inch snowfall at the end of February was followed by 44 days until the next snowfall.  Two winters prior to 1892 there was another eight-inch snowfall, this one followed by 27 days with no snow.
• On Dec. 27, 1934 11.2" fell and then the next snowfall wasn't for nearly five weeks (but the snow that fell on Jan. 28 amounted to just 0.1").
• A snowfall of 8.9" on Feb. 26-27, 1991 was followed by 30 snow-free days.
• On the first day of December in 1882 there was a nine-inch snowfall and then the rest of  the month was snow free.  The streak ended on New Year's Day when 0.3" was measured. 
• A snowfall of 7.9" on Valentine's Day 1975 was followed by four weeks with no measurable snow.

 

BIG SNOWFALLS AFTER A LENGTHY HIATUS

• NYC's second biggest snowfall of all-time, 26.9" on Feb. 11-12, 2006, came nearly four weeks after the previous snowfall (two inches on Jan. 16)
• 15.3" fell during the "Lindsay snowstorm" of Feb. 9-10, 1969, breaking a string of 32 snowless days.
• During the winter of 1995 a snowstorm of 10.8" on Feb. 4 came 23 days after the previous snowfall, which amounted to just 0.2".  (The Feb. 4 snowfall accounted for almost all of the winter's accumulation of 11.8".)
• During the winter of 1908 a snowfall of ten inches on Jan. 23-24 broke a string of 39 days without snow.
• The April blizzard of 1982 dumped 9.6" of snow 32 days after the previous snowfall on March 4 (of just 0.7"). 
• In March 1981 a snowfall of 8.6" on the 5th broke a snow-free streak of nearly seven weeks.

 

MINIMAL SNOWFALL AT BEGINNING/END OF DROUGHTS

An argument can be made that qualifying a drought as ended when snowfall is less than an inch doesn't really mean a drought has ended since it's an insignificant amount.  There have been sixteen hiatuses of four weeks or longer in which a half-inch or less of snow fell at both ends.  The smallest amounts were dustings of 0.1" at the beginning and end of a 36-day streak in the winter of 1901; this was matched in the winter of 1975 when amounts of 0.1" were separated by 29 days.  Additionally, snowfalls of 0.2/0.1 bracketed 29 days in between during the winter of 1943, and two 0.2" snowfalls were separated by streaks of 44, 34 and 28 days in the winters of 1992, 1918 and 1934, respectively.

 

SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALLS BEFORE/AFTER SNOW DROUGHTS

Most recently, the winter of 2013 had a 26-day period with no snow that was book-ended by snowfalls of 11.4" (Feb. 8-9) and 4.0" (March 8).  And during the winter of 2009 a snowfall of 4.3" on Feb. 3 was followed by 25 days with no snow which ended when 8.3" fell on March 1-2.

In winter of 1915 a snowfall of 7.7" on March 6-7 was followed by 26 days with no snow and then there was a snowfall of 10.2" on April 3-4.  And earlier that winter snowfalls of 4.4" and 7.7" were separated by 30 snowless days.

The longest drought bracketed by significant snowfalls occurred during the winter of 1906 when a snowless period of 32 days began after a snowfall of 6.0" on Feb. 9 and ended when 6.5" fell on March 14-15.

The winter of 1875 had a four-week period with no snow, with a snowfall of ten inches five days before Christmas on one end and five inches on Jan. 18.

 

SNOW-FREE DAYS BETWEEN WINTERS

The average number of snow-free days between winters is 264 days (or 38 weeks, about the length of a full-term pregnancy).  The longest number of days with no measurable snow was 320 between the winter of 1972 and 1973 (Mar. 15, 1972 - Jan. 28, 1973), followed very closely by the 319-day respite in 2002 (Jan. 20 thru Dec. 4). 

Seventeen winters had their last snowfalls before March 1.  The winter of 2002's last snowfall was on Jan. 19 and came just twelve days after the first snowfall.  Although the period between the two snowfalls was minimal, the fact that there was no measurable snow in November, December, February, March or April, makes this winter the title holder of the "Greatest Snow Drought" competition.

Finally, there have been six winters to go out with a bang, so to speak, with their last snowfalls amounting to more than nine inches.  Three were in February, the other three were after the spring equinox.  By far the greatest of these accumulations was the winter of 2010's final snowfall, a monster of a snowstorm, on Feb. 25-26, that buried the City under 20.9" (NYC's fifth biggest snowstorm of all time). The other five winters: winter of 1979 (12.7" on Feb. 19); 1915 (10.2" on April 3-4); 1967 (9.8" on March 21-22); 1903 (9.8" on Feb. 15-17) and 1982 (9.6" on April 6).

 

 

 

January 2019 Weather Recap: Average ... But With a Few Flourishes

January 2019 was average in terms of temperature and precipitation, but this masked the fact that it had two of the five coldest days of the past 25 years, as well as being one of the least snowy Januarys on record.  After the first nine days of the month averaged seven degrees above average, the rest of January was three degrees colder than average, with respective highs/lows of 45/35 and 37/23.  (The month began with a high/low of 58/39 and ended with a high/low of 16/2.)  Despite the month being average overall, the month's high temperature was 0.7 degree above average while the low was 0.9 below average. 

 

Barely any snow fell in January, with just 1.1" measured from three snowfalls (if you can call them that), making this the least snowy January since 2008.  Furthermore, January tied January 1870 as the 16th least snowy January on record.  But what made this year's paltry amount somewhat unique is that past Januarys with little snow tended to be on the mild side, but January 2019 was 4.4 degrees colder than these months. (Fun fact: The four Januarys between 1930 and 1933 each had less than an inch of snow.)

 

 

The month's two wickedly cold days, Jan. 21 and Jan. 31, had highs/lows of 14/4 and 16/2, respectively.  And although January had three days with lows in the single digits, only five days had highs of 32° or colder (there were also seven days with highs between 33° and 35°).  Typically, Januarys with two to four days with lows in the single digits average 11 days with highs this cold, while it's the months with no lows in the single digits that average five days with highs of 32° or colder.

 

 

70% of January's 3.58" of precipitation fell during two rainstorms that occurred less than a week apart: 1.17" fell on Jan. 18-19 and 1.33" fell on 1/24 (which also had the mildest reading of the month - 59°).  The rest of the month had just a little over one inch of precipitation. 

 

When 0.5" of snow fell on 1/18 (the month's "biggest" snowfall) it was the first snowfall since the "surprise" snowstorm of Nov. 15.  This was the second longest hiatus between a first and second snowfall (lengthiest was 12 weeks in 2011-12).  Furthermore, December/January was the fifth least snowy on record, with just 1.1" measured in Central Park (no measurable snow fell in December).  Perhaps Old Man Winter took pity on us after his surprise 6.4" snowfall back in November.  Interestingly, the winter of 1918-19, one hundred years ago, had even less snow in Dec/Jan.

 

 

Aggressive salting of streets, steps and sidewalks somewhat substituted for the lack of snow in January.

Previous January Recaps:

2018

2017

2016

2014

Weather Highights of 2019

 

 

JANUARY

1 - Very similar to 100 years ago, today's high of 58°, which occurred in the morning, was 39 degrees warmer than New Year's Day 2018, whereas 1919's high of 61° was 51 degrees warmer than New Year's Day 1918.  Today was the mildest reading on Jan. 1 since 2005.

6 - Today was the last day of an 18-day streak with above average temperatures in Central Park, the lengthiest in three years, since the record 34-day streak of Dec. 1, 2015 thru Jan. 3, 2016.  During these 18 days the high/low averaged 48/37, which was eight degrees above average.  The coldest temperature during the streak was 31°, which was reported tonight shortly before midnight.

14 - Although this was far from being a frigid Arctic outbreak, today, with a high of 32°, was the fifth day in a row with a high colder than 35°, the longest streak of highs in the 30s or colder since last January when there was a five-day streak from Jan. 14-18 (but a bit colder).  This current streak, however, didn't have any low temperatures as cold as those experienced on Thanksgiving Day 2018 and Black Friday (17° and 15°, respectively).

18 - Although the half-inch of snow that fell before daybreak was of the "junk" variety (i.e., largely gone by the time I left for work), it was the first measurable snow in Central Park in nine weeks - since the "surprise" snowstorm of Nov. 15.  Only the winter of 2011-12 had a longer gap between a winter's first and second snowfalls (12 weeks). 

20 - After a rainy morning (0.88" fell) Arctic air swept in, dropping the temperature from 42° late in the morning (the first reading in the 40s since 1/9) to 14° shortly before midnight.  This was the coldest reading in more than a year, since a low of 5° on Jan. 7, 2018.  Howling winds after dark created wind chills around 0°. 

21 - This was one of the coldest days of the past 25 years, with a high/low of just 14/4.  Gusty winds raked the area throughout the day, producing wind chills in the -5° to -15° range.  And while there have been 12 days since 1994 with colder low temperatures than today's, only two have had colder highs (10° on Jan. 19, 1994 and 13° on Jan. 6, 2018).  Today's frigid temperatures brought to mind very cold conditions that also fell on holidays in recent years (today was Martin Luther King Day): New Year's Day 2018, with a high/low of 19/7, Valentine's Day 2016, which had a high/low of 15/-1, and President's Day 2015, which had a high/low of 21/3.

24 - Rain began falling around daybreak and continued thru mid-afternoon, amounting to 1.33" (rain fell heaviest during lunchtime).  This was the sixth rainstorm of more than an inch in the past six weeks.  During this period more than nine inches of rain fell.  In addition to the rain, today experienced very mild temperatures as the high rose to 59° late in the morning (but fell to the mid-30s by midnight).  This came just three days after a low of 4°.  Today was also the first day since 1/9 not to have a low of 32° or colder.

30 - The ferocious cold that descended upon the Midwest, Great Lakes region and Ohio Valley over the past few days made its way east, ushered in by a snow squall mid-afternoon.  Once the front passed through, the temperature dropped from the low 30s to the single digits by 9PM (and down to 6° by midnight).  Howling winds produced sub-zero wind chills.  The 0.4" of snow that fell during the 15-minute squall brought the month's total snowfall to 1.1", keeping January from joining thirteen others that had less than an inch of snow.  

31 - Today's frigid high/low of 16/2 was quite a contrast to the first day of the month (aka New Year's Day), which had a mild high/low of 58/39.  Today's low was the coldest reading thus far this year (and since Feb. 2016), but its mean temperature tied that of Jan. 21, with a high/low of 14/4, for coldest (only four other days in the past 25 years have had colder mean temperatures).  Finally, the day's high temperature tied 1935 for the coldest high on this date.

 

FEBRUARY

4 - After two days in January came very close to 60° (highs of 58° and 59°), today had the year's first high in the 60s (61°).  This came just four days after a low of +2°, the fewest number of days between a reading colder than 10° and a high of 60°+ since January 1986, when there was a three-day gap (low of 8° on 1/15 followed three days later by a high of 63°) - but this year's jump in temperature was greater.  This was the second huge swing in temperature in the past week-and-a-half as the temperature rose from 4° to 59° between 1/21 and 1/24. 

12 - Light snow began falling shortly before 9AM, then mixed with sleet a few hours later before turning mostly to sleet in the afternoon before changing to a mix of snow and rain by evening.  The snow/sleet accumulated 1.2", the first accumulation of an inch or more in three months (since the "surprise" snowstorm of Nov. 15).  During the first few hours of snow the temperature dropped from 30° to 26°, then slowly rebounded, and was above freezing by 6PM.  

 

Reviewing 2018's Top Weather Stories: Raindrops Kept Falling On Our Heads

It was a wet year, indeed, ranking as the fourth wettest on record (behind 1983*, 2011 and 1972).  However, it began on the dry side, with January receiving just 2.18" of precipitation (it was the third drier than average month in a row, with just 5.97" measured in total; and five of the six years preceding 2018 had below average rainfall).  And while the amount of precipitation that fell during the first half of the year was close to average, the rain gauge worked overtime in the second half as 40 inches was measured, 56% greater than what fell in the first half (five of the six months had six inches or more of precipitation).  And although the year wasn't the wettest on record, it did claim the crown for most days of measurable precipitation.  As 2018 came to a close it seemed fitting that it ended with a soaking rain on New Year's Eve, making it the wettest 12/31 since 1948, and the first time since 1994 that rain fell as the ball dropped in Times Square.

 

* An argument can be made for 2018 being ranked third because 1983's claim as New York's wettest year has been called into question after it was revealed that the rain gauge in Central Park was broken for a large part of the year, allowing rain to enter from multiple.

 

 

Now let's shine some light on the year's other major weather stories:

• The year began with the continuation of a two-week cold wave that started the day after Christmas 2017 and lasted thru 1/8, making it the second longest on record (average high/low for its entirety was 23/13).  During this cold wave the biggest snowstorm of the winter snarled the City with nearly ten inches of wind-blown snow on 1/4.

• February was the mildest on record (pushing Feb. 2017 to second place) and featured a temperature of 78° on 2/21 (35 degrees above average); this was the warmest reading ever posted in the first two months of the year.

• March was cold (at 2.4 degrees below average it was colder than our mild February) and stormy, with four nor'easters wreaking havoc.  The last one, which occurred the day after the spring equinox, dropped 8.4" of snow, the biggest March snowfall since 1993 (and 0.1" more than the snowfall of March 1-2, 2009).

• Cold spring weather continued into April (3.6 degrees below average), which saw the biggest April snowfall since 1982.  5.5" fell the morning of Easter Monday (4/2), forcing the Yankees to postpone their home opener.  2018 suffered through the coldest March/April since 1984.  (However, among all years it ranks 56th as springtimes before 1950 were significantly chillier.)

• May was a reversal of March-April and was the sixth mildest on record.  The month began on the hot side, with highs in the 90s on the 2nd and 3rd; later in the month there were three days with highs in the upper 80s.

• A severe, quick-moving thunderstorm during evening rush hour on 5/15 caused extensive disruptions (including my flight to JFK which was cancelled).  Then six months later a surprise snowfall during the afternoon and evening was even more debilitating, snarling the evening commute for hours.

• Despite May's warm conditions, Mother's Day was chilly and overcast, with a high/low of 54/52.  By contrast Father's Day was sunny and hot, with a high/low of 91/66. 

• The year's rainiest period was a six-week stretch in July and August (7/12-8/22) when 15.77" fell (nearly ten inches above average for the period).  This included a deluge of 2.24" in little more than an hour on 7/17.  However, the year's biggest rainstorm occurred in April when 3.29" fell on 4/15-16. 

• The latest dates for a 80-degree and 70-degree low were reported on 8/29 and 10/10, respectively.  The year had 55 days with lows of 70° or warmer, the fourth most on record (following 1906, 2005 and 2015, and tied with 2010).

• A surprise snowstorm on 11/15 (6.4") was followed a week later by a frigid Thanksgiving Day (high/low of 28/17).  This resulted in the coldest temperatures ever encountered during the the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade - and the following morning was even colder, with a low of 15°.  After this early taste of winter there wouldn't be another measurable snowfall or colder temperatures for the rest of the year.

• Like the majority of years this century 2018 ranked among the 25 warmest years on record, ranking 18th.  However, it wasn't as warm as the previous three years (2017 ranked 14th, 2016 ranked sixth and 2015 placed ninth).

• Finally, 2018's diurnal variation between its average high and low was the smallest in more than 100 years (2003's and 1996's were close behind, 0.1 degree wider).  Interestingly, there are 15 years with smaller variations, all which occurred between 1878 and 1910.    (Many thanks to Eugene Demarco for sharing his analysis with me.)

 

 

If you'd like more in-depth findings about 2018, click here.  And to read recaps of previous years click on 2017, 2016 or 2015.

 

 

 

Intriguing Questions Readers Have Asked About New York's Weather

Many of us find weather reports of interest because they help with the planning of our day.  And historical weather information is of value as well.  As publisher of this blog I regularly get e-mails from attorneys, novelists, scholars, and persons researching family history who are seeking information about past weather conditions (their questions differ from those found in the "Comments" section of the blog, where weather hobbyists make observations about my analyses or recount an experience they had during a weather event).  On average I get one or two requests every month.  In this post I share some of the more interesting questions I've received. 

 

DEC. 16, 2018

SUBJECT:  WEATHER ON FATHER'S DATE OF BIRTH

 

I‘m doing some research about my dad. He died in 1991 at the age of 49.  He was from the Bronx and I’m trying to find out what the weather was like on June 3, 1942.  I know this is odd – I thought it would be easy to find out – but Google has been of little help.  (My dad was amazing – gay – and one of those lost to the AIDS epidemic.)  I stumbled across your blog and thought you might be of help.

 

Thanks for any light you could shed on the weather. As I near the age he was when he died - I’m trying to trace my dad's story. And the weather seems as good a place as any to start.

 

MY REPLY:   Hi Delia, you came to the right place for the information you were looking for.   June 3, 1942 was an overcast and cool day in New York.  The high/low was 70/52 (the average for early June is 75/59).  The day's low was the same as that of June 1 and 2, which were the coolest readings of the month.  Winds were out of the northeast (off the ocean) and that's largely the reason for the cloud cover.  There were some sprinkles before sunrise but nothing consequential.

 

 

DEC. 9, 2018

SUBJECT:  PLANNING AN OUTDOOR WEDDING

 

I saw your blog on NYC weather and had a question for you.  I am getting married next fall and we are booking a venue with outdoor space in NYC.  I wanted to ask you - when do you think there is less of a chance of a wash out - in mid September or mid October?  And which date do you think has better chance of good weather?

 

Appreciate any guidance from your expertise!

 

MY REPLY: Hi Matt, congratulations! As you might imagine, it's not a question with an easy answer (but not as challenging as a question from a colleague at work who was planning an outdoor wedding that had flags & balloons and wanted to know the chance of high winds).  No matter the date, even during traditionally drier times of the year, every calendar date has experienced significant rainfall (or snow).  However, on average, a calendar date sees measurable precipitation in NYC in one out of three years; however, this considers precipitation that's fallen anytime during the day, so this means the chance of precipitation during a particular time of day would be less than that. 

 

With this said, you'll be happy to know that the period you've chosen for the wedding is the time of year in New York that tends to have the most dates least likely to see rain.  In fact, half of the 25 driest calendar dates have occurred between Sept. 8 and Oct. 17, including eight of the ten driest dates. 

 

 

NOV. 25, 2018

SUBJECT:  WANT SNOW!

 

As strange or odd as it may seem, I like snow.  Living in Chicago, I especially like the way it quiets and slows down the city. I have been in NYC when it snows, most notably on the snowiest Thanksgiving Day on record, 1989, during which I enjoyed the Macy's Parade from the curb.  I've accidentally experienced other Big Apple snow falls of much lesser amounts.  Anyway, I know that you are a recorder of weather not a predictor of such, BUT based upon your records, what are some dates in NYC's weather history that have experienced a snow fall? My reason for asking is . . . as silly as it may be, I'd like to be in Manhattan during a snowstorm, so knowing the potential dates, based upon historical data, could help me plan. Now, yes, I know, that today's weather predictions are probably better than basing a decision upon history repeating itself, and I will keep watching TV for reports of those east coast circumstances that produce one of those famous nor'easters, but again, I was just wondering if there are any NYC dates that have been more reliable for snow than others.

 

MY REPLY:  Hi Charles, thanks for you intriguing question.  Not surprisingly, and as you suggested, I don't think any information I have is going to be of much help.  Probably similar to Chicago, the prime time of snowfall in New York is from mid-December thru mid-March; however, every season is different.  For instance, last winter we had four snowfalls of five inches or more, but only one of them occurred during this period.  Looking at all years in which records are available for Central Park (since 1869), February is most likely to see snowfalls of six inches or more.  And the four dates that have received this amount the most times are: Feb. 4, Feb. 12, Feb. 25 and Dec. 26.  It's happened seven times for each date, which means about once every 21 years, so it doesn't happen all that frequently.

 

A word of caution.  If you tried to schedule a trip when a snowstorm is predicted you might be disappointed because many predictions don't come to fruition because either the track of the storm changes slightly or the temperature in Manhattan may warm just enough to result in sleet or rain instead.  Or the storm may strengthen at the last minute or the storm track may change and take us by surprise (as was the case a few weeks ago).

 

So there you have it.  My question to you is, why not just go to Chicago for its big snowfalls?  :)

 

 

NOV. 15, 2018

SUBJECT:  TODAY'S SNOW - QUESTION

 

Quick question which I thought you might know - with today’s (11/15) relatively early measurable snowfall in Central Park - is 2018 one of the shortest periods of no-snow in NYC…. given that the city got 5.5” on April 2?

Was debating this earlier with one of my weather geek friends.

 

MY REPLY: Hi Mike, 2018 is tied with 1940 for eighth shortest time between last snowfall of the previous winter and the first snowfall of the next winter.

 

 

Note: Average # of days between last & first snowfall is 261 (3/21-12/8).

 

 

 

AUG. 12, 2018

SUBJECT:  NYC DAILY HIGH TEMP DATA

 

Rob, I've developed a new way to visualize large chronologically-ordered data sets (US Patent #9,747,652) and was looking to test it on a simple data set.  I've been trying to find a downloadable database that provides the daily maximum temperature for the Central Park weather station, which has been recording temperature data since 1869.  

I know that the data exists, but I'm not able to find it (neither have the librarians who have tried to help).  I found your website and thought that if you didn’t have this data, you’d know where to get it.

I've found composite information (average high & low temps, highest daily temps, etc.), but not true daily numbers.  I am “simply” looking for the daily high temp reading at the Central Park NYC or the last 54,645 days.  Shouldn’t be that hard, right?

 

MY REPLY:  Hi Chris, unfortunately, none of the sources I refer to for my blog are set up in a way that makes it easy putting together all of the daily highs/lows from 1870 onward.  The source I use provides daily highs/lows for individual months by each year.  Double click here for the link.  But, who knows, with your knowledge of spreadsheets, perhaps you can find a way to gather all of the information together.

 

 

JUNE 6, 2018

SUBJECT: SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

I’m a writer working on a book about the build-up to the Spanish-American War. Several of the events that I’m describing took place in Manhattan in 1896 and 1897. I’d love to give an evocative description of the weather on those days, to help bring the events to life, and I came across your weather archive online. Do you think you could help me locate temperature and precipitation figures for a few dates, or point me toward a database with that information? I’d be so grateful for any help you can offer.

MY REPLY:  Yes, Wil, I can help.  The link (double click here) will take you to a NWS site for New York that I use frequently.

 

APRIL 24, 2018

SUBJECT:  DEATH FROM EXPOSURE TO EXTREME COLD?

I work for NBC4 in Washington, DC and a co-worker has a question about a non-record event from 1948.  She is researching her family tree and the trip down the rabbit hole has her wondering.  Her grandmother’s body was found on Nov. 24, 1948 but there is reason to believe she may have died several days earlier.  Foul play is not suspected in her death but cold and snow are.  Is there any way to get the high/low/rain/snow data from Nov. 17-24, 1948?  I checked NYC's Nat'l. Weather Service site but since no records were set during that period it’s hard to say exactly how extreme the weather may (or may not) have been.  Any help pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated.

MY REPLY: Hi Chuck, the circumstances behind your friend's request are quite unique as I occasionally get requests for weather conditions for dates of births, but never one this tragic.  The weather during this period (Central Park) had above average temperatures and included the warmest reading of the month, 74° Nov. 20. FYI, the month as a whole was very mild, and until 1979 was the mildest November on record.

 

MARCH 21, 2018

SUBJECT:  COGNITIVE DISSONANCE OF OUT OF SEASON SNOWFALLS

I’m writing a blog post about the cognitive dissonance created by today’s snowstorm in NYC. The idea being that snow in spring creates dissonance because we believe it shouldn’t happen.

Interestingly, I found a journal entry in my journal from two years ago today that mentioned it snowed.  I was trying to research the history of spring snow in NYC - whether minor snow showers or major storms like today (which everyone is calling major, but it’s not sticking on the sidewalks on 14th Street!).  I came across your site and was fascinated by it.  I saw  your post about major snowstorms but was wondering if you happen to have records of all the snow in March/April - specifically after the spring equinox (so early March wouldn’t count for this).  Maybe I’m just not seeing it on your site, but I'd love to point to evidence that this happens more than we think.

If it’s on your site, can you please point me to the link?  If it’s not on your site but you have the info, would you mind sharing it with me.

I will of course attribute the info back to you with links (Editor's note: she didn't).  If you want to check out my site, I blog at http://mymeadowreport.com.

MY REPLY: Hi Renee, significant snowfalls from mid-March onward happen infrequently in New York, especially accumulations of six inches or more, so today's snowfall stands out.  The 8.4" that accumulated today in Central Park, which is a significant amount in mid-winter, is the eighth biggest snowstorm this late in the season.  Before today the most recent major snowfalls so late in the season occurred in 1992 (6.2" on 3/19) and in 1982 (the blizzard of April 6 that dumped 9.6").  A lesser amount, 4.0", fell on March 29, 1970 (Easter Sunday) and again on April 7, 2003.  (By the way, the snowfall you mentioned in your journal was likely the 4.5" that fell in 2015 on March 20.) 

I wrote a post a few years ago that you'll likely find of interest, about the harsh winter conditions that occurred in the second half of March thru early April in 1956, 1958 and 1967.  To read it please click here.

Here are snowfalls of six inches or more that have occurred after 3/15 (since 1870).  You'll notice that a majority of them occurred in April.

11.8" - March 20-21, 1958
11.6" - March 18-19, 1956
10.2" - April 3, 1915 (the day before Easter)
10.0" - April 12-14, 1875
9.6" - April 6, 1982 (the Tuesday before Easter)
9.0" - March 22, 1967
8.5" - April 1, 1925 (the Wednesday before Easter)
8.4" - March 21, 2018
8.0" - April 12-14, 1892 (4/14 was the Thursday before Easter)
6.7" - March 16-17, 1956
6.5" - April 5, 1944 (the Wednesday before Easter)
6.5" - April 8-9, 1917 (4/8 was Easter Sunday)
6.4" - April 6-7, 1938
6.2" - March 19,1992

 

JAN 7, 2018

SUBJECT:  NEW YORK CITY SKY CONDITIONS

 

Here is, I think, a strange request.  Is there a record of sky conditions (cloudiness) for 1932?
I am pretty sure I have a memory during my first six months. I remember looking out the window from my crib at a full moon and a clear sky. I was born in January 1932 so the period of clear sky, full moon should be around July.   Any help would be greatly appreciated.

MY REPLY: Robert, although your request is somewhat out of the ordinary (from the questions I usually get), you'll be happy to know that daily information is available about sky conditions for 1932.  Unfortunately, for some reason the monthly summary report for July is not available from the site I use.  However, looking at June and August, skies were clear on the following dates (based on the 9PM reading):

June 7 thru 10; June 17; June 20; June 22 thru 24
Aug 5; Aug 9;Aug 15;Aug 19;Aug 22 thru 26

Please keep in mind that these sky conditions are based on observations from Central Park, so they might be different elsewhere.

 

 

DEC. 22, 2017

SUBJECT:  APRIL BLIZZARD IN 1961?

I was reminded of some history today when a friend sent me this link:

https://i2.wp.com/allenginsberg.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Doc_3000_beatniks-riot-1.jpg

I was wondering how I could have missed it. I flew to San Francisco, I thought in April '61, and my plane's departure was delayed from LaGuardia by a day, thanks to a blizzard.  I swore I'd never come back, and ironically wound up living in Barrow, Alaska, from 1992-1999.

I did want to check my memory, though. I couldn't find a blizzard that April on your site and went all the way back to February 7th to find one.

I also found this, but there was no date:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIT4BRyz4qg

Can you tell if there actually was an April 1961 blizzard?

MY REPLY: Hi Frank, there was no blizzard in April 1961 (the high/low on April 6 was 53/44).  However, there was a blizzard 21 years later on that date that dumped nearly ten inches of snow on NYC.  The YouTube video is likely from the snowstorm of Feb 3-4, 1961, which dumped 17.4" on NYC.

 

NOV. 7, 2017

SUBJECT:  MOVING TO NYC

My name is Gabriel and I am from Barcelona. I am so happy of having found out your website full of weather data and events in New York!  There is so much information, it is amazing! I have also collected so many weather events from my country as well (but not published on the net, just notes and newspapers).

Like you, weather has been my hobby since I was 8 years old (now I am 33) and I started to collect weather data when I was 13 years old, and so far I am so proud of having a 20-year climatic record of my village!

I discovered your website because I was looking up some weather data from New York. Why New York?  Because I am moving there the next year.  My partner is from NYC and I have decided to move, to settle and start a new life.  I hope to find a meteorology or climatology ... if not at the beginning, later on. 

I will be living in Queens in an apartment. I will have to ask for permission to install a pluviometer on the terrace.  Not an automated one... I want to keep measuring the rain exactly as I have done it so far - with a test tube.  So that's why I have so much interest of collecting weather data from NY. The climate of NY is much more interesting than the one in Barcelona, I will be excited to be experiencing cold snaps in winter.

Do you still collect weather data in NY?  Where can I find daily data from Central Park or JFK, LGA airports? Or any official observatory?

MY REPLY: Hi Gabriel, I'm always happy to hear from other weather enthusiasts.  However, I'm not as motivated as you since I don't have a rain gauge, perhaps because Central Park's weather observatory is only four miles away from my my apartment.

I visited Spain ten years ago and went to Madrid and areas south (Toledo, Sevilla, Granada, Marbella), but I didn't get to see Barcelona.  I suppose your weather is on the mild side, perhaps even tropical.  Although I don't keep my own records of the weather anymore I still have my calendars of data when I did it as a boy in Pittsburgh.

Below are links that you'll find very helpful in understanding the climate of New York.  They provide monthly reviews of weather conditions going back more than 100 years for New York City/Manhattan and more than 60 years for LaGuardia Airport and Kennedy Airport (both airports are in the borough of Queens).  Central Park is the official reporting station for New York's weather information.  Not only will you find monthly recaps but recaps of each year.

CENTRAL PARK (Manhattan)

LAGUARDIA AIRPORT (Queens)

KENNEDY AIRPORT (Queens)

Yes, New York's weather can be very interesting because of it being situated along the East Coast.  And although our temperatures don't get extremely cold we do get our share of snowstorms.  Additionally, because of our proximity to the Atlantic Ocean summers aren't quite as hot as cities further inland, such as Philadelphia and Washington DC.  However, summer evenings/mornings can be very warm since all of the concrete and high concentration of office buildings prevents heat from escaping.

Again, it was a pleasure reading your message.  If you have any trouble with the links, or if you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.  And I hope you enjoy living in New York.

 

SEPT. 8, 2017

SUBJECT:  Steven Fybish

Hi Rob, thanks again for your blog.  Not sure if you've ever heard of or been in touch with this guy, but before the Internet, he was the only person I was aware of who was into NY weather statistics. I tired to contact him a couple of times via e-mail years ago but never heard back, although I wasn't sure if I had the right contact information.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/nyregion/stephen-fybish-who-had-much-to-say-about-the-weather-dies-at-80.html?ref=todayspaper

MY REPLY: Hi Ken, yes I had heard about Steven and recall reading a Times article about him a number of years ago.  Thanks for sending the link to his obituary.

 

JULY 27, 2017

SUBJECT:  SEEKING NYC PRECIPITATION FOR DISSERTATION

I am a hydraulic engineer in Hungary and - as part of my work - I collect and analyze data of the precipitation of my home city, Budapest. I work on my PhD, the topic is of course the rainfall data collection and analysis of Budapest.  In my thesis I would like to make studies on the spatial distribution and extent of heavy rainfalls.  For this work I plan some comparisons of cases of cities which have extended rainfall gauge networks (in my city we manage a network of 55 gauges in cca 550 km2).  By this idea I could get data from Toronto in the past months from an on-line database.

Hopefully I can get to New York City in the first half of September as a tourist, and I thought that this occasion could be supplemented by getting to know the rainfall measure network and data proceeding of NYC, even to meet some experts of this question. 

Browsing on the net I've found your web site "New York City Weather Archive" so I turn to you with my request of help.  Who can I seek with my interests, where can I get at least daily (hopefully more detailed) data from rainfall gauges of NYC as further data base for my study?

MY REPLY:  Hi Tibor, I can provide you with helpful information to get your thesis started.  In New York City, rainfall information is collected at Central Park (Manhattan), La Guardia Airport and JFK Airport.  It's available by year, month, day and hour.  Central Park's information goes back to 1869.  (Most cities in the US collect weather data, usually at their airports.)  The National Weather Service has a website that has all of this information. Click here for Central Park's information, which is arranged by month of each year.

Additionally, I've written a number of posts about excessive rainfall in New York City that you may find helpful:

Rainiest Back-to-Back Months

Greatest One-Hour Rainfalls

Unrelenting Rain: New York's Most Lengthy Rainy Spells 

 

MAY 4, 2017

SUBJECT:  MAY 1974 - SNOW?

Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm for weather on your blog. I teach journalism at St. John’s University in Queens, and I’m reading a student paper in which the mother recalls stepping off a plane at JFK on May 4, 1974, emigrating from the West Indies, and seeing snow on the ground in Brooklyn.  I just read your Weather Archives, both the broad views and the close-up, and see that we had record-breaking heat at the end of April that year.  Is it likely that there would have been any snow that would have survived that heat? (Here in Queens, I have seen small mounds of snow on shady side streets survive late into the spring.)  I wouldn’t grade this paper down, of course. I’m just fascinated by the persistence of memory, the specificity of recall, that might not have been accurate yet vivid and “true” in the mind of the mother.

MY REPLY: Wayne, I'm glad your student's paper resulted in your finding of my blog!  There has never been accumulating snow in NYC in the month of May.  And on May 4, 1974 the high/low at JFK was 64/49 (and the last measurable snowfall that winter was on 3/29).  I also looked at the previous month in case he had the month wrong, but April 5 had a near-identical temperature, 63/50.  I thought that maybe she saw hail on the ground, but there was no precipitation on May 5.  Memories can play tricks on us - perhaps she was mixing up another trip to JFK that was during the winter.

 

MARCH 28, 2017

SUBJECT:  WEATHER CONDITIONS ON NIGHT OF 1931 MURDER

Hello Rob!  I enjoyed visiting your blog.  I am a baseball historian from Chicago.  In July 2017, I will be giving an oral presentation at the SABR (Society for American Baseball Research).  I am researching a murder homicide that took place in Brooklyn during the early morning hours of Oct. 5, 1931.  Two men visiting a speakeasy got into a vicious baseball argument during the 1931 World Series and a fist fight began leaving one man dead and the other incarcerated.  

I was hoping that you may be able to search your archives and tell me what the weather forecast was for the early morning hours of October 5, 1931 in Brooklyn.  I would be most appreciative and I will recognize you assistance by name, website, etc. when I give my presentation.

I thank you in advance for your time.

MY REPLY: Hi Matthew, I'm glad you found my website.  I happen to be a baseball fan so I'm glad I can help you out.  Oct. 5, 1931 came in the midst of an unseasonably warm stretch of days at the beginning of October that had temperatures that were more like August.  Oct. 5 had a high of 84°, which was seventeen degrees above average.  In the early morning hours of that day temperatures were close to 70° under fair skies (that's even above what the typical high should be that time of October).   

 

MARCH 7, 2017

SUBJECT:  SOLAR PANELS

Hi Rob, I would like to know if there are hour-by-hour, day-by-day records of sunny days. From January 2016 to the present.  I had solar panels installed about a year ago and I feel my local utility company is fixing the numbers to their own advantage.  Solar is based on direct sunlight not whether the temperature is hot, warm or cold.  And in this mild winter we've had, I don't see how they justify their rates. Please let me know.

MY REPLY: This is a tricky one since cloud cover can be very different from weather station to weather station.  Last summer, for instance, Central Park was much sunnier than Newark, LaGuardia or JFK.  And it can be very different compared to what part of the New York metro you live in.  With that said, the National Weather Service publishes monthly weather recaps featuring daily information; however, sky cover is provided for every third hour rather than hourly: 1AM, 4AM, 7AM, 10AM, 1PM, 4PM, 7PM, and 10PM.  If this might be helpful to you please let me know and I'll provide you with the link and instructions.    

 

FEB. 9, 2017

SUBJECT:  SCHOOL CLOSINGS

I enjoyed reading your post about New York City snowstorms from 1950 until 2016.  My wife, a former (if one from Da Bronx can ever be a "former" Bronxite) Bronx girl, claims she would walk to and from school uphill both ways in snowstorms.  She says school was never closed due to weather conditions. In your research on snowstorms, did you ever find information on any school closing in the 1950s and 1960s?  I would appreciate any information you may be able to give me.  Thank you.

MY REPLY:  Hi Michael, school closings is one aspect of NYC's weather that I haven't researched but I often hear colleagues who grew up in New York say that schools rarely closed before the 1980s.  I think part of the reason is that nowadays more kids and teachers take buses, drive cars and travel greater distances compared to the years pre-1980.  Also, parents today seem more protective and worried about the safety of their kids.  Finally, since so many parents are working it's a challenge for their schedules if their children stay at home.  

Also, especially since 2000 significant snowstorms have occurred with greater frequency than in the 1950s and 1960s. (So far, this current decade has had more snowfalls of 8"+ than any other full decade going back to when records first began in the 1870s.)  

Although the this link addresses 11 school closings since the blizzard of Feb. 1978, I thought you might find it of interest nonetheless.

Sorry I couldn't provide you with any statistics to answer your question.

 

OCT. 19, 2016

SUBJECT:  CENTRAL PARK TEMPS

As part of global warming research, I would like Central Park temps for 1am and 1pm on Oct 1, Oct 11, Oct 21, and Oct 31 for as far back in time as the data exists.  How do I get it?

MY REPLY: Rod, that's quite an ambitious project you're undertaking!  The link below from NOAA's Local Climatological Data website will enable you to find daily observations from Central Park going back to 1900 - with some limitations.  The months going back to the early 1960s have temperatures for every day on an every-three-hours basis (lucky for you, 1AM and 1PM are two of the times that are provided). The months before 1950 provide observations for every hour.  Unfortunately, the years during the 1950s thru early 1960s, and some years during the 1990s, have no hourly observations.  And for some reason there are no monthly reports from the late 1940s and some years before 1920.

 

MARCH 31, 2016

SUBJECT:  METS & YANKEES WEATHER STATS

When I was doing some research about big snowstorms in March, I happened to come across your list of weather conditions at all the Mets and Yankees home openers since 1970. Awesome work!

I’m planning to write a story about those weather patterns, along with the weather patterns for Phillies’ home openers, since we have a lot of readers in central and southern New Jersey who root for them.

I’m doing my own research on the Philly home openers, and it’s a grind!

Anyway, could I give you a call to ask you a few questions about your research?  Or could you answer them in an email? I think you deserve a lot of credit for all the work you did, and I’d like to get a few comments from you. 

MY REPLY:  Hi Len, below you'll find my answers to your questions.

— What motivated you to do all that research on the Mets and Yankees weather conditions?

Writing a blog, generating traffic is a big motivator so I'm always thinking of new angles I can put a weather spin to.  After I had written about weather highlights of every calendar date I decided it would be interesting to write about highlights of the major holidays.  After I finished these I expanded my definition of holidays and included events like the day of the NYC Marathon, the Gay Pride Parade and then the home openers of the Mets and Yankees. 

— How long did it take you to find all those records and sort through them?
It took a while (at least a couple of weeks), especially because I was working on the home openers of the Mets and Yankees in tandem. Not only did I have to look at the weather conditions for each date (focusing on conditions during the afternoon hours), I also examined the box scores so I could add information that would be of interest to Mets and Yankees fans. Just a few weeks ago I added the games from the 1970s.  By the way, the post about the Yankees' home openers is much more popular, generating seven times as much traffic as the Mets post.    

 

— Did you use data from the same weather observation station for both teams? (Central Park, JFK or LaGuardia Airport?) or one place for the Mets and one for the Yanks?  (I’m asking this because my editors asked me to confirm some of the info on my own to make sure it matches up with yours.)
For the most part the conditions are based on Central Park's readings.  However, since Shea Stadium/Citifield are very close to JFK I'd also look at those reports as well to see if there were any big discrepancies, a big consideration in the springtime since wind off the ocean can make JFK much cooler than Manhattan. In fact, I occasionally make references to that fact. 

 

— Why are you so fascinated by the weather?
It's something I've been interested in since I was in the sixth grade.  In fact, I went to Penn State with the intention of majoring in meteorology.  However, after my first physics class stressed me out so much (and I'd have to take many physics classes), I switched majors - to Advertising.  Note, however, that I'm not so focused on the forecasting aspect, but the historical angle.  I enjoy analyzing statistics so it's easy for me to find many unique ways of looking at the years of data available.  (Professionally, I work in media research for an ad agency, which puts my analytical skills to good use.)  

 

 

JAN. 11, 2016

SUBJECT:  PONDERING TEMPERATURE AVERAGES

When we all think of average highs and lows, they move linearly and in the same direction always.  Meaning, that after the peaks of July 23 or so, the high temperature and the low temperature., when they move, move one degree at a time lower and lower…albeit very slowly at first, but with increasing speed as the earth’s tilt takes over, less daylight, etc.  You never see that, for example, on December 1 the average high is 50° and then on Dec. 2, it’s 51°, and then on Dec. 3, it’s 50°.  It never works that way.  You know better than I do.  It’ll be 50° for a few days…. then 49°….. then 48°.  It always moves in the same direction, until about Jan.24 or so, and then it starts moving up again.

Climate norms use 30 year averages.  The NWS in the above example uses 1981 through 2010.  That means, (forgive me, I know it’s obvious), that if you added up all the high temperatures on Dec. 24 for that 30 year period, and then divided by 30, you’d get the average high.

Dec. 24 this year was truly remarkable.  From 1981 through 2010, the sum of all high temperatures has to equal 41x30, or 1,230 for that date.  I presume that there is some rounding in there, but not too much.  For the average high temperature to be 42°, the sum of the years would have to be at LEAST 1,245, because dividing that by 30 gives you 41.5, which would round to 42.  In turn, it could be as low as 1,215, which would be 40.5 degrees, which would then round up to 41 degrees.

By adding a number that is 31 degrees ABOVE normal, the daily “normal” high MUST move up a degree, creating the anomaly of having the average high temperature on Dec. 24 exceeding that of Dec. 23,when we all know the trend should be moving downward.

Let’s use my low example.  Let’s say that 29 years averaged out to 40.5 degrees for December 24.   40.5*29 = 1,174.5.  ADD 72 degrees to that, and you get 1,246.5.  Divide that number by 30 and you get 41.55 degrees – otherwise known as 42 degrees, which is one degree higher than it was on Dec 23.  And that’s using the low example.  If the average is truly 41 degrees, the equation is 41*29 = 1,189 + 72 = 1,261/30 = 42.03 degrees.  The high example puts us at 43 degrees when averaging.

I think you get my point, so I’ll stop with the math, but in sum, on ANY day where the high temperature is more than 30 degrees above the “normal” 30 year high for that day, it has to increase by the daily normal high by one degree and create an anomaly.

MY REPLY: Hi Robert, that's a very interesting take on the subject of season averages.  I never thought about it the way you presented it.  However, I believe the process of deriving the averages is a bit more complicated.  If you averaged highs and lows of every day of the year I'm sure you wouldn't see a smooth transition from day to day.  Based on my experience at work, graphs are created using many different data points and I'm sure NOAA's averages are based on a smoothing of all of the individual data points.  Also, since each 30-year period for averages is used for ten years, 2015's won't be part of the 30-year averages for another five years, when the 1991-2020 norms are introduced.   

 

JULY 6, 2015

SUBJECT:  THANKS FOR HELP WITH MY NOVEL

I thought you might find it interesting that I just used your snowfall data for the first scene of my soon-to-be published novel, Pride's Children. It starts in Feb. 2005 (evening of the 25th), and I needed snow on the ground in enough depth to make the sidewalks slippery, with snow piled on the sides, as it gets in NYC.  I moved the scene from the 11th to the 25th (for plot reasons), so I had to check the snow and the moon’s phase (shifted from new to almost full in two weeks).

So thanks for putting the data up for people like me to use.

MY REPLY: Hi Alicia, I'm delighted I was able to help, thank you for letting me know.

 

NOV. 8, 2014

SUBJECT:  WEATHER HISTORY FOR HISTORY ABOUT AIDS

I’m a journalist, author, and filmmaker — at work currently on an in-depth history of AIDS activism in New York City.  I have stumbled upon your blog, and your deep interest in local weather history.  I wonder if you might allow me to ask you from time to time for information from your deep archives. For instance, the early evening of Nov. 6, 1991? 

MY REPLY:  Hi David, I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.  Regarding Nov. 6, 1991, it was a chillier than average day (high/low of 52/34, eight degrees below average).  In the early evening the temperature was in the mid-to-upper 40s under mostly fair skies.

 

NOV. 3, 2014

SUBJECT:  INQUIRY ABOUT NYC MARATHON WEATHER

What was the temperature at the start of 1996 Marathon?  Cannot find it anywhere.  I ran it in 3:49.07 (after crawling over the bridge and cramping after down slope of the Manhattan bridge). Still, it was awesome!

MY REPLY: Hi Steve, the 1996 Marathon (Nov. 3) was one of the chilliest. The temperature at 10AM was just 41° (after a low of 35°) and at 1PM it had risen to 48°, which was 11 degrees colder than average.  This year's Marathon wasn't quite as chilly in the AM but the high winds made it feel colder.  

By the way, if you haven't already seen it, I've written a post about weather highlights of past Marathons:  http://bit.ly/Sj2OVh

 

AUG. 8, 2014

SUBJECT:  WEATHER ON DATE OF ELLIS ISLAND ARRIVAL

Hi, I am hoping that you will be able to help me find out what the weather was like on March 15, 1913. I am writing a narrative for a client whose ancestors arrived at Ellis Island on this day.  I just thought it would be great to tell them what type of day it was when he arrived.

I hope you can help. Thank you very much.

MY REPLY: Hi Diane, weather on that date had temperatures a bit above average, with a high/low of 48/34 degrees. There was also drizzle and fog for a few hours around daybreak.

 

JULY 29, 2014

SUBJECT:  WHAT A SITE!

Hey There Rob, what a blizzard.  Thanks to your site I did a search and read some articles about
it.  I was a 19-year-old Canadian boy living in New York on April 6, 1982.  

But what I'm interested is this...at about 3AM on April 7 I  grabbed a cab at 73rd and Central
Park West for my place down in the Village. At the intersection of 7th Ave. & 33rd St., right 
in front of Madison Square Garden the taxi went through a red light and slammed into a van
heading westbound on West 33rd.  I went face first into the metal partition...nearly croaked, 
as you can imagine.

Of course, I was in Bellevue Hospital for quite a long time and never even thought to search for any 
newspaper reports or other documentation of my accident. After all my jaw being wired shut 
was the least of my medical problems! So I was in no position to care at that time.

I have no idea why, but tonight I thought I'd take a look online and  see what I could find 
without any luck. The fact that I'm back in rural Canada and you're in  New York maybe you have an idea of
where I can search for any reports of my accident.  Surely there must be something out
there considering how serious it was.  If you have any suggestions I'd really appreciate it if 
you could get back to me. Your site seems very comprehensive, that's why I thought you 
might have some leads you could let me know about. Is there such a thing as Auto Accident
Databases?

There is lots of documentation on the storm of course, and some mention of auto accidents, 
but nothing more specific than references to a few pile ups and motorists being stranded 
on various roads.

MY REPLY: Hi Larry, that's quite a story.  I'm glad you survived the ordeal.  You may want to
check to see if the Daily News or New York Post have an archive of past issues.  Unfortunately,
since no one was killed, and since it occurred in the aftermath of an attention-getting 
snowstorm, it may not have even been reported.  And although there is a database where 
you can order official accident reports filed by the NYPD, it only goes back four years.      

I'm curious, did you move back to Canada after the accident or did you stick around longer?  
Were you here as a student at NYU?

Sorry I can't be of any further help - I have lots of sources for historical weather data, but 
not this type of information.


MAY 27, 2014
SUBJECT: HELP

How are you?? You helped me once before and I am hoping you can help me again.  I need
to find out how many days it rained or snowed in Jamaica, Queens NY during the period of 
11/1/2010-7/17/2011. I would also like to know other than those rain/snow days...how many
days during that same period was the temperature below freezing. 

I appreciate whatever you can find out for me.

 

MY REPLY: Hi Christine, here is the info you were looking for.  It should be pretty self-explanatory.  The data come from the reporting station at JFK Airport.

 

 

MAY 22, 2014

SUBJECT:  GREETINGS FROM SWITZERLAND

I am a German speaking Swiss writer and am preparing my sixth novel, which I'd like to open at the beginning of the 20th century, perhaps on New Year's Eve in 1899 and continuing through January, February, March 1900. As you might imagine, it is important to have the historical truth and to know what the weather was like, i.e., if the rivers were frozen in New York City, especially on New Year's Day in 1900.  Do you know how i can get this type of information?  Do you have it?  Was it raining, snowy, cold, was the river frozen, windy, etc.  Or the contrary, warm etc.?  Are there any sites on the internet for the historical weather of New York?  I would be very glad if you could help me.

MY REPLY: Hello Catalin, the end of 1899 and beginning of 1900 was historically cold.  For eight days in a row, between Dec. 28 and Jan. 4,  the temperature never rose above freezing (0 degrees Celsius).  And there was just a little bit of snow.  Here is what the day-by-day temperatures were (high/low) in Celsius:

Dec 28, 1899   -2/-6
Dec 29, 1899   -3/-7
Dec 30, 1899   -7/-12
Dec 31, 1899   -7/-12
Jan 1, 1900      -7/-10
Jan 2, 1901      -7/-11
Jan 3, 1901      -4/-7
Jan 4, 1901      -2/-7  

Typical temperatures during this time of year are around 3/-3 C. (the formula for converting Celsius to Fahrenheit is:  Celsius temperature x 1.8 + 32 = Fahrenheit temperature.)

Despite this cold spell it's doubtful the rivers froze completely since temperatures that December before Dec. 28 were mostly above freezing.  Ice probably formed on the banks of

the Hudson or East Rivers, but not the entire river.  And the peak ice formation would have been on the last day of the cold spell.

 

 

FEB. 9, 2014

SUBJECT:  HELP WITH DISPUTE REGARDING SNOW REMOVAL

I live in New York city and work as property manager for a building that has plenty of square feet to cover when snow removal is necessary. This means any accumulation, even an inch of snow, requires snow removal.  In the past few years I have worked many hours and responsible for snow removal. I was wondering if you can help me out, is there a website or some kind of information I can obtain for daily snow accumulation for past years?  I found some monthly websites, but not daily, meaning I can not find anything on a given day of the week.  Reason being, Rob, there were years where I worked with snow removal, and my employer owes me overtime pay that I must submit, but I no longer have the records for this and employer does not want to acknowledge that they have these records only because they no longer have my information. Which only means they want to avoid paying me.  I know this email is out of the ordinary and please forgive me if this is not something you know, but will very much appreciate your help and guidance if you do have some information you can share with me.  Thank You in advance.

MY REPLY:  Not to worry, Sam, daily weather data are available for New York.  Click here and you'll be taken a menu page from the National Climatic Center's website for Local Climatological Data (which is the source I use for my website).  The page you'll be taken to is for New York City and is arranged by month.  Every month has detailed information for every day, including snowfall.  This document also provides the amount of precipitation that fell by each hour. (Please note that the information is based on NYC's official measurement site in Central Park.)

FEB. 7, 2014

SUBJECT:  REMEMBERING WARM FEBRUARY TEMPERATURE

 

Nice site Rob! I myself am and always have been a weather buff.  I was trying to navigate your site, and was wondering if you recall in the late '80s a period in February where we had temps in the '80s.   (During that decade I lived in NJ in Lake Hopatcong and then Highpoint.)  I think it was in the latter part of the decade.  (I also recall Dec. 1964 having a warm spell.)   Do you recall this?  Again, nice job.

                                                                     

MY REPLY:  Hi John, thank you for your kind comments about the blog.  New York has never seen any days in the 80s in February, but you may be thinking of February 1985 when we had a high of 75° on Feb. 24.  There was also a high of 76° on March 8, 1987.  The earliest 80-degree reading in NYC was on March 13, 1990 when the high reached an incredible 85° (36 degrees above average).  And regarding December 1964, there were three days in a row during the Christmas holiday (12/25 thru 12/27) with highs of 60° (but the month as a whole had sightly colder than average temperatures.) 

 

 

JAN 29, 2014

SUBJECT:  WEATHER HELP NEEDED FOR MURDER INVESTIGATION

I am working on a case that involves the murder of a livery cab driver in the Soundview section of the Bronx on Jan. 19, 1995 between 3:00 and 4AM.  A witness claimed to have witnessed the shooting from her bathroom window.  She even said that the window was open.  Her credibility has already been destroyed and the five people who were convicted and served 18 years in prison on the basis of her lies have been exonerated and are now free.  In any event I thought you might have ready access to what the weather was like in NYC at the time of the crime.  Can you share that with me and also let me know your source in case I have to back up my assertions about the weather.

MY REPLY: Hi Peter, the weather in New York at that time on 1/19 was on the raw side.  Skies were overcast, the temperature was in the upper 30s, with winds out of the northeast and there were some sprinkles of rain - but not enough for it to be measurable.

Please note that these were the conditions at the National Weather Service's reporting station in Central Park.  This information was taken from a monthly report published by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.

 

JAN. 6, 2014

SUBJECT:  ACADEMIC STUDY REGARDING HUMIDITY & NYC MARATHON

I am a researcher at the University of Montana and we are doing a running study and wanting to replicate the average temperature and humidity of the NYC Marathon.  I found your blog online, and found it very helpful. Thank you for the post. I am wondering, however, if you know the average humidity for the races. I am thinking of just the races since '95 since we want the study to be applicable to future races.

MY REPLY:  Hi John, attached are the data you asked about.  In addition to each year's relative humidity, I've also included the temperature for each hour.  Please note that all this information comes from NYC's official reporting site in Central Park.

If you're able to acknowledge in your study this contribution I'd be most appreciative.  Also, when the study is completed might you be able to send top-line findings?

 

DEC. 1, 2013

SUBJECT:  INQUIRY ABOUT SNOWSTORM IN 1977 IN NYC

 

I googled "snow storms in nyc in 1977" and was directed to your website. I am writing a memoir and I’m trying to remember if there was a snow storm in New York in 1977 where I lived at the time.  I would be very grateful if you could give me any info on this inquiry or could direct me to where I might find any info.

 

MY REPLY:  Hi Andy, there were no big snowstorms in 1977.  The largest snowfall was five inches and it occurred during the afternoon and evening of Jan. 14.  This preceded a major Arctic outbreak which saw the AM low go down to 2° below zero on Jan. 17.  That January was one of the nation's coldest on record.  The following year, however, NYC had two major snowstorms, one in January (13.6") and the other in February (17.7").

 

 

NOV. 16, 2013

SUBJECT:  TEMPERATURE ON DAY OF 2003 BLACKOUT

I found your website after watching a movie on Netflix called Category 7 about a monster storm that could be shut down by cooling a city by shutting off the entire power grid.  It was entirely unrealistic in terms of how quickly they showed the city cooling off but it still was an interesting point.  Would a city, could a city experience ANY kind of rapid drop in temp?  I doubt it. It makes me curious about whether the temperature dropped AT ALL on that colossal day of the Northeast blackout, which happened at 4:10 pm on Aug. 14, 2003.

Do you have the temperature data for that afternoon and evening?  Perhaps best if it comes with data of the days before and after to see how the temp. was dropping naturally in the evenings.

I couldn't find a place on your page to search for data of particular days. Would that be hard to do?  Or perhaps you know of a website that already has that feature.  I tried NOAA's Data center but the site is NOT obvious as to how to access data.  For one, they use a shopping cart system - but it's free!

Appreciate your help if you can.

MY REPLY:  Hi Poonam, thanks for your question.  The power of hurricanes is generated when they're over the ocean, fueled by very warm water.  Once a tropical system moves over land it weakens considerably because it's no longer over its power source, i.e., water.  Furthermore, cities are cooled by a storm's clouds and rain (even if they are still in the mild 70s), so a storm would need to be attacked while over the water to have any chance to weaken it.  

Regarding the temperature in NYC during the blackout of 2003, a hot air mass was over the City so turning off the power and AC would have little effect on the temperature (especially since power was off for less than 24 hours).  The day before the blackout, 8/13, the high was 87°; the day of the blackout the temperature topped out at 91°; the day after it was 89° - but I don't believe the two-degree drop was attributable to the power being out.  But regardless, scientists would need to cool the ocean to reduce a hurricane's power - but that cooling might cause a chain reaction of other events that might result in other problems.

Hope this sates your curiosity.  Please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

JULY 17, 2013

SUBJECT:  IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT CLIMATE

I saw that article about you and your weather blog in today's edition of MediaPost.  Very cool!

I've wondered about the availability and application of weather data archives.  Our Grand Poobah of meteorology here in Chicago, namely, WGN's Tom Skilling, manages regularly to come up with dang unusual statistics about most, highest, lowest, longest stretches, biggest changes, etc., etc.

What I'd love to see is a computer or phone app that identifies a PERSONAL view of where in the US the "best" weather is.  The key is everybody has a different idea of what "best" is.  I want to throw things at the TV when some anchor talks about how wonderful some 87-degree day is.  My personal "best" days would be: 70° +/- 8 degrees, humidity 10-30%, light breeze, 10-25% cloud, no precip.

From that, I'd love to see a list of the top 200 cities, ranked by the percentage of daylight hours that meet my criteria.  Better yet, a color-coded map!

My dream wanderlust-pleasing app would add a whole wealth of other personal preferences covering everything from crime and income levels (there are plenty of real estate apps that do that stuff), plus things like walkability and count of independent (non-franchise)bookstores and Italian restaurants.  And while realtors are prohibited from talking about religion or ethnicity, I wouldn't think other data suppliers would be prohibited from including that info and there is a positive case to be made for it:  if you happen to be a Bolivian Mormon, you might welcome finding neighborhoods that have others of the same persuasion.

One interesting measure that Census or Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) or somebody produces is average age of mothers upon first birth.  That would be very useful to home buyers who have kids.  If Mom is either 22 or 40 and has young children, she may well look forward to not being the unusual one on the block compared to other Moms.

Just rambling on!

MY REPLY:  Hi Kevin, thanks for your message - good to hear from you!

From what I've seen, most apps with weather info often just have very general data that, to me, indicates that the technicians don't fully understand the data.  They could go much further.

Based on your criteria, I think you'd enjoy living/visiting places out West, particularly in Colorado, Utah, northern New Mexico, eastern Washington and Oregon or Idaho - but only during the springtime and autumn.  And then, of course, there's always San Diego.  But if you have patience you'll probably experience these sunny, mild and dry days on occasion in Chicago as well.  Perhaps we enjoy them so much because they don't happen all the time.  Living in the Midwest, it's the blizzards, below zero temperatures and heat waves that make these moderate days feel so good.  You wouldn't want that all of the time, would you (I think I know your answer)?

 

FEB. 16, 2013

SUBJECT:  FEB 1978 BLIZZARD

I'm revising a novel set in NYC in what i planned to make 1978.  The revision has been necessitated by a piece of weather history which I overlooked until very recently: the blizzard of Feb. 5-7.

I love your weather history, but i see it only goes back to 1979.  Do you by any chance have data on NYC during that storm, like when they closed and re-opened the schools, and when they closed and re-opened the subway?

Thanks for all you put into your website.  Great, great stuff.

MY REPLY:  Hi Susan, that blizzard hit New York the year before I moved to the City.  However, that hasn't prevented me from having a good amount of information to share with you that might prove useful:

• The bulk of the snow fell over a 24-hour period between 3AM on Monday, 2/6 and  3AM on Tuesday, 2/7.  There was a final period of snow between 10AM and 1PM that dropped an additional one to two inches.  The snow fell heaviest from noon on Monday thru 3AM on Tuesday.  And there was thunder snow in the early AM hours of 2/7!

• Gale force winds of 30-40 mph created drifts of 3-4 feet. Because this was a dry snow it drifted very easily.  Winds were strongest on Monday between 10AM and 7PM.

• The total accumulation was 17.7".  This came less than three weeks after another big snowstorm dumped 13.6" on 1/19-20.  In fact, in less than two-months time (1/13 - 3/3), 50" of snow fell in New York/Central Park.

• Schools were closed for one day, on Tuesday.  Regarding the subway, some lines with outside tracks were shut down, but not the entire system (a system-wide shutdown has occurred just twice - when Hurricane Isabel hit in Aug. 2011 and Sandy in Oct. 2012).

• I recall seeing a photo in Time Magazine showing tenor Luciano Pavarotti standing outside with a snow shovel at Lincoln Center where one of his performances was canceled due to the storm.  I believe Broadway shows were also canceled on Tuesday evening.

• Although this storm was debilitating for NYC, it was Long Island, Boston and New England that were especially hard hit (similar to last week's snowstorm). 

• A week later a smaller system dropped four more inches of snow (and another five inches fell in early March).  There was at least one inch of snow on the ground in Central Park through March 11.

Please let me know if you have any questions.  And good luck with the book.

 

JULY 16, 2012

SUBJECT:  RAINY SUNDAYS

Love your weather history blog!  But I seem unable to find out which May between 1999 and 2003 had the most rainy Sundays - and which Sundays were they?  Weather matters much in the mystery I'm writing.  This will be my 23d book, and no matter how fantastical some of my stories, I've tried to be accurate about the weather.

MY REPLY:  Hi Nancy, not a whole lot of rain fell during this period, but here's what I found:

> The rainiest of all the Sundays was May 23,1999 when 0.30" fell, and most of it was between 9AM-8PM.  This was  the only Sunday in May 1999 that had rain.

> May 2000 had rain only on the 21st and it was just 0.03".

> May 2000 had rain only on the 27th when 0.08" fell.

> May 2001 had rain only on the 12th when 0.16" fell (off and on in the AM and then between 5-7PM).

> Like all the other Mays, May 2002 had rain on just one Sunday.  It fell on the 25th but it was just 0.01".

 

 

MAY 21, 2012

SUBJECT:  NYC TEMPERATURE ON JUNE 8, 1980

Hello from a former gay NYC dweller.  I love your gay blog and I am using your weather blog in my novel, set in 1980, just before the AIDS epidemic.  I left NYC that year to move to Portland, Oregon.  The chapter I am currently writing takes place on June 8, 1980.  From you blog I learned it rained on that date.  Do you know the temperature that afternoon?

If it is somewhere on your blog, could you let me know so I don't have to bother you again. The novel is a romance about two men in 1980.  I learned the Tony Awards were the night before.

Thanks for both blogs-- enjoyable, useful.

MY REPLY:  Hi Jason, thanks for your nice message.  I'm delighted that you're a reader of two of my blogs!  Coincidentally, I've been reading a gay novel titled Running In Bed which is about a young man's life/experiences in NYC between 1977-1987.   

Regarding your question about June 8, 1980, a strong cold front caused the temperature that day to plummet from 80° in early afternoon to 52° by midnight.  The next morning's low was a very chilly 47° - and NYC hasn't had a June reading that low since then.  (However, July/August/Sept of that year were unseasonably hot.)

 

If you're interested in reading weather highlights for any given year, look at the Categories box on the right hand column of the blog's page and double click the category "By Year".

 

 

MAY 16, 2012

SUBJECT:  WEATHER DURING METS GAME

Hello.  I was in New York for a Mets game in July 2011. I had to take an early flight home because of severe thunderstorms and missed the game.  Can you clarify for me if on July 17, 2011 New York had severe  storms?  I can’t remember if it was that day or July 24 or July 31. I know it was one of those Sundays.  Thanks for your help!

MY REPLY:  Hi Rhonda, although no rain fell the date would have to have been July 17 because that was the only one of the three dates in which the Mets played at home (they played the Phillies).

FYI, a little bit of rain fell late in the afternoon on July 24, but it wasn't from a thunderstorm. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very Wet 2018 Ends With Very Wet December

2018 was New York's fourth wettest year on record (third if the disputed 1983 is excluded) and the final month of the year followed that theme.  December was the year's fifth month with six inches or more of precipitation (all of them occurring in the second half of the year).  The month ended with the wettest New Year's Eve since 1948, and for the first time since 1994 rain fell during the ball drop in Times Square (pictured).  Most of the month's 6.51" of rain (the ninth wettest December on record) fell after 12/13.  This followed a ten-day dry spell, which was the longest in more than a year.  Four days had an inch or more of rain, all occurring in the second half of the month. 

 

December was 2.6 degrees milder than average.  The month started out colder than average, with Dec. 1-13 averaging three degrees below average, then a shift occurred and the rest of the month was nearly six degrees above average.  The final twelve days of the month all had above average temperatures (as did sixteen of the last eighteen).  The range in temperatures was rather narrow, from 24° to 61° (the coldest reading in December is typically in the upper teens while the mildest reading is in the low 60s).

 

November 2018 was snowier and had colder readings than December (two days had lows in the teens).  Typically December is ten degrees colder than November but this year it was only four degrees colder.  Just ten other Decembers have been closer to November's average temperature.

 

 

After 6.4" of snow fell in November (all on 11/15) there was just a trace of snow in December.  This was the twentieth December on record with a trace of snow or less (nine of them have been in the past 25 years).  And it joined a handful of Decembers with much less snow than November. 

 

 

Finally, December had the same average temperature as March (40.1°).  December is typically about five degrees colder.  However, while the overall temperature was the same as March's, December's average high was about a degree colder than March while its average low was about one degree milder.  And while both month's had above average precipitation, March was much snowier, with 11.6" measured.

 

 

Other December recaps:

2017

2016

2015

 

Weather Highlights of the 1910s in New York

The 1910s was characterized by colder than average winters and springs, especially the winter of 1918, which has the distinction of being the coldest on record.  There were also back-to-back winters (1916 and 1917) with 50.7" of snow, and an unprecedented four consecutive Aprils with significant snowfalls (1914-1917).  Additionally, the summers of 1914 and 1915 were among the coolest on record.  Still, there were a number of hot weather highlights, including the hottest temperature on record, at the time, 104°, in August 1918 (just seven months after a low of -13°).  Then there was the brief, but scorching, four-day heat wave the previous summer (July 30-Aug 2) in which one day had a high of 100° and the other three days reached 98°.  And in 1914 and 1915 late season heat waves occurred in consecutive Septembers.  Finally, looking at precipitation, 1910 was NYC's driest year until 1964 while Oct. 1913, with nearly 13 inches of rain, ranks as one of the ten wettest months on record.  Highlights of each year follow:

 

1910

January 14 - The biggest snowfall of the winter covered the City with an accumulation of 10" (0.5" of it fell on 1/15).  This topped a snowfall of eight inches three weeks earlier.

 

February 27 - Today's high of 51° was the first in the 50s since Dec. 14, a span of nearly eleven weeks.

September 1 - After today's rainfall of 1.20" only an additional 0.22" fell for the rest of the month (and none from 9/10 thru the first week of October).

October 6 - Today was the twenty-seventh day in a row with no measurable rain.  This would be the longest rain-free streak on record until 1924 (it's now ranked third).  This streak contributed to 1910 being New York's driest year until 1964.

November 24 - Today's high of 53° was the only high in the 50s between Nov. 11 - Dec. 28.

December 16 - The coldest day of the winter was today, with a high/low of 21/11. 

 

 

December 19 - Today was the first day this month with a low temperature above 32°.

Christmas Day - Today was the thirteenth (and last) day this month with a high of 32° or colder.

 

1911

March 16 - Today's frigid high/low of 20/13 made this the second coldest day of the winter.  Only 12/16 was colder (21/11).

March 25 - On the day of New York's deadly fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Greenwich Village (147 mostly female laborers died), skies were clear and temperatures cold, with a high/low of 40/20.

 

 

April 2 - Today's high/low was a winter-like 35/24, seventeen degrees below average.  The high was a record for the date (that still stands). 

May 24 - This was the ninth day with measurable rain this month, all which had less than 0.10" (as well as April's last two days with rain).

August 31 - This was the seventh day in a row with measurable rain.  3.76" poured down today, more than the combined amount of the previous six days (3.57").  Additionally, today's high/low was a very cool 59/55.  This would be the only time until 2007 that a day in August had a high in the 50s.

November 12 - After reaching a high of 69° in the early afternoon the temperature nosedived and was down to 33° as midnight approached.  The mercury would continue to fall to a record low of 26° the following morning.

December 4 - A snowfall of seven inches ended up being the biggest snowfall of the winter.  The day, with a high/low of 33/19, was also the coldest day of the month.

 

1912

January 25 - This was the start of a three-week period with frigid temperatures, in which all but two days had highs of 32° or colder.  The average high/low during this period was 27/15.

Valentine's Day - After having no high of 32° or colder this winter until 1/4, today was the thirty-first day in the six weeks since than to have a high that cold (three-fourths of the days).  Today was the end of a seven-day streak with highs of 32° or colder (and eleventh day of the past twelve).  It would be followed fifteen days later by another seven-day streak.

 

 

March 6 - The first six days of March all had highs colder than 32° (and 2/29 had a high of 32°).  The average high during these days, at a time when highs are typically in the mid-40s, was 28°.  From Jan. 4 thru today, a period of nine weeks, 60% of the days had highs of 32° or colder.

March 24 - Highs of the past four days: 34° (3/21); 35° (3/22); 36° (yesterday); and 37° (today).  All were well below the average high, which is around 50°.

August 10 - This was the eleventh day in a row in which the high was in the 70s (the average at this point in the summer is around 83°).  This came about three weeks after a streak of eleven days in a row with lows in the 70s (July 8-18). 

December 24 - A morning snowstorm dumped 11.4", Christmas Eve's biggest snowfall.  Snow fell heaviest between 4-9AM, when it fell at a rate of 1.5" per hour.

 

1913

March 7 - Today's high/low of 20/12 made this the coldest day of the winter, passing 2/13, which had a high/low of 25/11.

March 9 - The day's high of 65° followed a low of 12° the previous day.

May 10-11 - One week after back-to-back highs of 89° (both were records until 2001), yesterday's and today's lows were in the 30s.  The low of 36° on May 11 was a record that still stands.

October 1 - 4.98" of rain fell today, much of it (3.34") in just two hours, 2-4PM.  At the time this was the third greatest daily rainfall (it's since fallen to ninth).  In addition to this tremendous amount of rain, eight inches more would fall this month, making this, at the time, the third wettest month on record (it's now ranked seventh).

 

1914

February 12 - One month after a frigid high/low of 9/-3 (on 1/13), today was a near repeat, with a high/low of 10/-3.

February 25 - Today, with a high/low of 26/1, was the 15th day of the past eighteen with a high of 32° or colder.  Average high/low during this period was 26/12, thirteen degrees below average.  Additionally, 17.3" of snow fell during this 18-day period.

March 1 - Rain in the morning changed to snow around lunchtime and by midnight 13.5" had accumulated (an additional inch fell after midnight on 3/2).  It was a very heavy, wet snow with a high water content (2.65") until around 9PM when Arctic air moved in.  This was the century's first snowstorm of a foot or more, and the first since February 1899, when 16 inches piled up.  This remains the longest period between snowstorms of 12 inches or more.

 

   

 

March 7 - In a little less than four weeks 35.2" of snow fell.  Twelve days had measurable snow, including snowstorms of 9.7" on Feb. 13-14 and 14.5" on March 1-2.  This followed a five-week period in which just 0.1" of snow fell (Jan. 6-Feb. 9).

April 16 - This was the third day of the past six to have an inch or more of rain (another day had 0.89")  In total 4.30" of rain was measured.

July 29 - Today's low of 59° is the only time a low has been in the 50s on this date.  This and Aug. 1, 1964 have the distinction of having the mildest readings that are record lows.  (However, at the time, July 26's record reading was 60°, but it would be broken in 1920 when a low of 55° was reached.)

September 15 - The average high/low of the past eight days was an unseasonably cool 68/51, nearly ten degrees below average.  This cool period wasn't associated with wet weather as just 0.01" fell.

September 23 - This was the last day of an out-of-season three-day heat wave that saw highs of 94-95-92 (23 degrees above average).  This came a week after an eight-day period of very cool weather.

 

 

November 24 - For the eighth day in a row the low was 32° or colder - the longest such streak in the month of November in the 20th century.

December 7 - A cold rain fell (1.81") on a day that had a high/low of only 36/32. 

December 9 - For the fourth day in a row the high was 36°.  And three of the four days had lows of 30°.

December 26 - A bitterly cold day, with a high/low of just 15/3.

December 29 - Today was the eighth day this month with measurable snow, but all had accumulations of less than one inch.

 

1915

January 25 - This was the ninth day in a row with measurable precipitation, totaling 2.75".  (It was also the twelfth day in the past two weeks with precipitation, totaling 6.21".) Today's temperatures stayed in the 30s all day (high/low of 38/30) but the precipitation was in the form of rain, which amounted to 0.41".

January 31 - This was the fifteenth day this winter to have measurable snow, but it was the first to have an accumulation of an inch or more.  However, the 1.6" that fell in the first half of the afternoon changed to rain and was washed away.  (A more substantial snowfall, of 4.4", would occur two days later.)

February 6 - From Jan. 12 through today 10.62" of precipitation fell (0.41" of rain fell today).  Nineteen days had measurable precipitation, including ten days with snow (8.2" in total).  This winter would be the wettest on record until the winter of 1978-79.

April 3 - The biggest snowfall of the "winter" occurred today on Easter Saturday as ten inches of heavy snow fell between 9AM and 11PM (eight inches fell between 11AM and 6PM).  During the storm winds from out of the north gusted to 25 mph and temperatures hovered around 30°, producing wind chills in the teens.

 

 

April 4 - Many spent Easter Sunday digging out from yesterday's 10-inch snowstorm.  However, by afternoon temperatures rose into the low 50s, twenty degrees warmer than yesterday, greatly promoting melting.  And skies were mostly sunny.

April 25 - Today saw perhaps the greatest swings in temperature of any date in New York's weather history.  After first soaring from 47° shortly after midnight to 91° at 3PM, the temperature then plunged to 52° by midnight.  This was the result of a strong warm front moving through for about ten hours (9AM-7PM) then being displaced by a backdoor cold front.  No rain was produced by the passage of these fronts. 

April 27 - Two days after the temperature soared into the 90s, they did so again today.  But after reaching 92° shortly before 4:30 (one degree hotter than 4/25) a cold front moved through a few hours later and the temperature dropped to 54° by midnight. 

June 9 - Today's high of 81° was preceded by two days with highs of 77° and would be followed by two more 77-degree days.

August 9 - Each of the first nine days of August had some rain, totaling 5.14" (3.75" fell on 8/4 from a tropical storm that tracked over the area).  This was the second time this year to have nine days in a row with measurable precipitation (the first was Jan. 17-25).

September 17 - This was the last day of a four-day heat wave, the second year in a row that had one in the second half of September - the only time this has happened.  The highs during these four days were 90-91-93-91.

1916

January 27-28 - Yesterday's and today's highs of 69° and 66°, respectively, were records that are still standing. These mild temperatures came less than two weeks after back-to-back days with lows in the single digits.

February 1 - This was the fifth day this week with a high in the 60s.  But after today's high of 60° it would be eight more weeks before the next reading above 60° occurred.  And nearly 40" of snow would fall during this 8-week period.

March 17 - What was a very cold day (high of 26°) became even colder when a reinforcement of Arctic air moved in after dark and by 11PM the temperature had fallen to 9°.  This was the first single-digit reading in March in the 20th century (there were 15 occurrences between 1872 and 1891; there would be five more this century, including the next day, with a low of 7°; the most recent was in 1967).  Winds gusting close to 30 mph at night produced sub-zero wind chill readings.  

March 22 - Today's snowfall of 2.9" followed a snowfall of 2.1" yesterday and was the sixth in the past three weeks of two inches or more (there were eleven days with measurable snowfall).  This was also the fourth storm to produce significant sleet.  In total, snow/sleet amounted to 25.5" this month, making it New York's second snowiest March after March 1896. (It would also be the fifth coldest March on record, and the coldest of the 20th century.)

 

 

June 11 - This was the fourth day of the past five with afternoon temperatures only in the 50s.  All five days were overcast with light winds out of the northeast.  The typical high temperature in the second week of June is in the upper 70s.

December 15 - A snowstorm dumped 12.7" of snow between 7AM-9PM, with nearly ten inches on the ground by mid-afternoon.  The snow was very fluffy, produced from just 0.59" of water (and by daybreak on 12/16 it had packed down to nine inches on the ground).  The day's high was 28°, the first of five days in a row with highs in the 20s.

 

1917

March 5 - This was the fifth day of the past six, and the fourth day in a row, to have measurable snowfall.  In total 13.9" fell.

April 1 - In the span of just eight hours the temperature plummeted from 83° to 44° as a "backdoor" cold front moved through and winds shifted from the southwest to the northeast.  This would be the warmest reading of the month.  And the next reading in the 80s wouldn't occur for seven weeks (May 20).

 

 

April 9 - One of April's biggest snowstorms dumped 6.5" (0.1" of it fell late last night).  This brought the winter's total snowfall to 50.7" for the second year in a row.

August 2 - Although the summer had just six days with 90-degree temperatures, the high today was 98° and the previous three days saw highs of 98° (8/1), 100° (7/31) and 98° (7/30). 

 

 

September 3 - The low was 64° for the third day in a row and would be the mildest low temperature of the month, the "coolest" reading for warmest low temperature in September on record (later tied in 1935).  This broke the previous record set in 1871 and 1883.

December 1 - Today's high of 47°, seasonable for the beginning of December, would be the mildest reading of what would be the second coldest December on record.

December 13 - The biggest snowfall of the winter began late in the afternoon and by the time the snow ended in the early hours of 12/14 9.5" had accumulated (eight inches fell today).  The temperature rose into the mid-30s as midnight approached, making it a very wet snow, with rain mixed in at times.  This was the third year in a row to have a significant snowfall in mid-December. 

December 28 - Beginning today and continuing through Jan. 4 record lows were set on seven of the eight days - and all of them are still standing.  (Only 1/3, with a low of zero didn't set a record.)

December 29 - Beginning at 5PM and lasting thru 2PM on 12/30 (21 consecutive hours), the temperature was below zero.  Today's low, at midnight, was -6°, while tomorrow's would be -13°.  This would be NYC's coldest reading of all time until the winter of 1934.  

December 31 - The year ended on a bitterly cold note, one of New York's coldest days on record, as the high/low was only 6/-7.  When the ball dropped the temperature was one degree above zero - by far the coldest ball-drop temperature (the second coldest reading, 9°, occurred 100 years later).  And the wind chill was around -20°.

 

1918

January 2 - At 4PM the temperature reached 10°, ending a streak of 114 hours (since 10PM on 12/28) in which the temperature was in the single digits or colder.  But it fell back into the single digits an hour later.

January 4 - This was the eighth day in a row with a low temperature in the single digits or colder, the longest such streak on record.  The average high/low during this streak was 13/-3.  Six of the days had lows of zero degrees or colder, including today (-3°).  Also, today's high of 18° was the "warmest" reading since 12/28.

 

 

January 13 - In a span of little more than 24 hours the temperature plummeted from 53° yesterday at 6:30 AM to 6° above zero this morning at 8AM.  This was the tenth low in the single digits or colder in the past 30 days, and there would be ten more in the next six weeks.

February 7 - This was the first day since 12/24 to be completely above freezing.

February 20 - After soaring to 59° shortly before daybreak the temperature fell sharply all day and was at 18° by midnight (on its way down to 8° by 8:30 AM tomorrow).

March 19 - After a balmy high of 76° was reached at 3PM (a record that still stands) the temperature dropped like a rock and was half that reading by midnight.

June 23 - During a time in June when highs average around 80°, today's temperature got no higher than 59°.  And the low of 49° was a record (which still stands).

August 7 - In the midst of a five-day heat wave today's high of 104° was, at the time, the hottest reading on record (later topped during the summer of 1936).  This was the only day of the heat wave to have temperatures in triple digits.

October 30 - This was the fifth day in a row in which highs were in the 70s and lows in the 60s; the average high/low at this time of year is in the upper 50s/low 40s.

November 11 - The day of the signing of the armistice (in France) that ended World War I was overcast and a bit chillier than average, with a high of 49/38.

 

 

 

1919

January 2 - Quite a contrast in how this year and last year started.  The first two days of this year had highs in the low 60s while last year the first two days had highs of 10°.

March 14 - Today saw the winter's first snowfall of one-inch or more as 1.3" accumulated in the early afternoon.  This would be the latest date for the first snowfall of an inch or more until the winter of 1998, when it occurred on March 22.  Until today a total of 1.1" had fallen this winter from four snowfalls.  When today's snow was falling temperatures were only in the mid-20s. 

March 28 - 1.4" of snow fell in the afternoon, the biggest snowfall of the winter (coming two weeks after 1.3" fell).  This was the last snowfall of the winter, which had just 3.8" of snow - the least snow until the winter of 1973 when 2.8" fell (and later passed by the winter of 2002).  Temperatures during the afternoon were only in the mid-20s, half of what the usual afternoon temperatures are at the end of March.  

March 29 - Today's high was just 31°, twenty-two degrees below average and the coldest high temperature since 1/12.

April 2 - This was the sixth day in a row with a low in the 20s.  The average reading during these days was 24°, fifteen degrees below average.  This morning's low of 22° was a record that still stands.

April 25 - It was a cold day with temperatures more like winter than the middle of the spring.  The high/low was just 43/29, nineteen degrees below average.  And tomorrow's readings would be very similar (of 44/31).  Both morning lows were records (that still stand).  Both days also had winds that gusted to 25 mph, making it feel like the temperature was in the 20s.

July 23 - For the ninth day in a row measurable rain fell.  Total rainfall during this streak amounted to 5.81", one-third more than falls in a typical July.

 

 

August 18 - More than twelve inches of rain fell in the past five weeks.  During this period measurable rain fell on twenty-two days.  Today's rainfall was the fifth rainstorm of an inch or more.  Besides significant rainfall today (1.74") it was also very cool, with a high/low of 65/63.

October 28 - Today's high of 83° was a record, and 24 degrees warmer than average.  However, a strong cold front moved through later in the day, dropping the temperature to 48° shortly before midnight (which is what the average low is for the date).

December 17 - Four days after the temperature reached 61° (at 9PM), tonight at 11PM it was all the way down to +1°.  This was the first of fifteen days this winter with lows in the single digits or colder.

December 18 - The morning low was -1°, New York's earliest date for a sub-zero reading.  The high rose to 11° in mid-afternoon and then stayed at 10° degrees for the rest of the day.

December 19 - Today's 1.9" of snow brought the season's snowfall to 4.0", which exceeded last winter's total of 3.8" (the least snowy winter until 1973).  Besides the snow it was also very cold, with a high/low of 20/10 - but this was bearable compared to yesterday's 11/-1.

 

December 30 - Last winter the biggest snowfall was 1.4" (and the winter's total was 3.8").  By contrast, in the past two weeks four snowfalls exceeded that amount: 2.1" on Dec. 16-17; 1.9" on Dec. 19; 2.8" on Dec. 24-25 and 2.0" today.

 

To read about weather highlights in other decades:

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

 

 

Weather Considerations When Planning an Outdoor Wedding

Readers contact me on occasion to ask what the best time of year is to plan a rain-free outdoor wedding.  But since this advice is asked months ahead of the event, any guidance is more or less a crap shoot.  (Of course, if one had the luxury of planning just a week ahead of the ceremony, the risk would be much less.)  However, even after choosing optimal dates based on historical averages, no outdoor wedding is risk-free as every calendar date has had precipitation fall in some years.  And there's not just rain to consider - heat, humidity, wind, fog, gray skies, threatening skies, even vermin, can present challenges.  The best advice is to have a back-up plan, i.e., an indoor space, a large tent at the ready, or umbrellas to hand out to guests. 

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that weather conditions can be very different just a few apart, especially with thunderstorms (the bane of summertime plans of all kinds).  For instance, a couple at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden might be blessed with sunny skies while at the very same time another couple is waiting out a downpour soaking the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx.

 

And while having a dry day is considered the ultimate gift of Mother Nature, a sunny day with hot temperatures may prove as challenging as a rain shower, with the wedding party contending with sweat-soaked outfits (not to mention the increased chance of someone fainting).  With this in mind, the best week to avoid to reduce chances of experiencing temperatures in the 90s, or hotter, is the week of July 16 (what I refer to as "Hell Week").  But discomfort isn't restricted to temperatures in the 90s (or hotter) as sauna-like conditions can occur in lower temperatures if the humidity is high. 

 

     

Here is how I answered the most recent request for weather guidance, from a couple considering a fall wedding between mid-September and mid-October:

I get this type of question every now and then and, as you yourself acknowledged, it's not one with an easy answer (but not quite as challenging as a question from a colleague at work who was planning an outdoor wedding that incorporated flags and balloons and wanted to know the likelihood of high winds).  No matter the date, even during traditionally drier times of the year, every calendar date has experienced significant rainfall.  However, on average, a calendar date sees measurable precipitation in NYC in one out of three years; however, this considers precipitation that's fallen anytime during the day, so this means the chance of precipitation during a particular time of day would be less than that. 

 

To point out the limitation of depending on historical averages, if, based on the fact that no rain had fallen on Sept. 12 for 20 years in a row from 1988-2007, you had planned a wedding in 2008 on that date, imagine how crestfallen you'd have been when the streak was broken and light rain fell throughout the afternoon.  There are no guarantees when planning so far in advance.  

With this said, you'll be happy to know that the period you're considering for the wedding is the time of year in New York that tends to have the most dates least likely to see rain.  In fact, half of the 25 driest calendar dates have occurred between Sept. 8 and Oct. 17, including eight of the ten driest dates. 

 

Finally, and not to end on a negative note, there have been years in which major rainstorms occurred between mid-September and mid-October.  For instance, in  1985 hurricane Gloria struck in late September; tropical storm Floyd flooded the City with five inches of rain on 9/16; in the second half of Sept. 2004 tropical storms Frances and Ivan produced close to seven inches of rain; in October 2005 more than 13" of rain fell from 10/7 thru 10/14; and a tornado tore through Brooklyn and Queens during the evening of Sept. 16, 2010.  Finally, in 1987 I attended a friend's outdoor wedding in Westchester County on 9/13 that had to be moved under a tent because of an all-day rain (the first time in 13 years that rain fell on that date).

 

And I shared with them the calendar dates least likely to have had measurable precipitation in New York (those shaded in blue are those that fall, approximately, in the date range they were considering):