New York City Weather Archive

Today in New York Weather History: December 14

 

1922

Today's 3.2" snowfall from late morning thru the afternoon was the first of ten snowfalls of three inches or more this winter, a winter that would become, at the time, the snowiest on record, with 60.4".  (It's now ranked fourth.)

 

1953

This was the ninth day of the past eleven with temperatures ten degrees or more above average (including seven in a row between Dec. 4-10).  It was also a wet period, with rain falling on eight of the days, totaling 4.25", which accounted for almost all of the month's precipitation.  Today was the rainiest, with 1.46" falling during the morning from a nor'easter that moved in yesterday afternoon (dropping 0.42").  Wind gusts of 35-40 mph were reported. 

1981

The winter's first snowfall of an inch or more came during late afternoon, but after 1.4" accumulated the snow changed to a steady rain as the temperature rose to 37° by midnight.  In total, 1.02" of precipitation was measured.

1996

On a rainy day (0.89" fell thru mid-afternoon), today's high and low were just one degree apart (40/39).  This was just the tenth time a day had a one-degree variance since record keeping began in 1870.  (Through 2019 this is the last time it occurred.)

2003

5.8" of heavy snow fell between 8AM and 2PM before changing to a wind blown rain as the temperature rose into the low-40s.  Total precipitation from the storm was 1.59".  Today's snow (a record for the date) brought the month's total to 19.8", the most in December since 1948 when 25.3" fell.  However, four weeks would pass before the next snowfall (0.5" on Jan. 12).    

 

2005

Today's high/low of 24/14 made this the coldest day of the entire winter, a winter that was on the mild side (especially January, which was 8.8 degrees above average).  This was the earliest date for the coldest day of winter since the winter of 1988-89, when it arrived on Dec. 12.  Today's mean temperature was nineteen degrees colder than average.

2010

It was a biting cold day, one of the coldest of the entire year, with a high/low of just 23/19.  The first snowfall of the winter fell shortly after midnight, but it amounted to just 0.1".  The last time we had a first snowfall so unsubstantial was ten years earlier.    

2013

It was a snowy day, with five inches on the ground when the snow changed over to freezing rain around 9PM, and to plain rain by midnight.  The transition occurred as the temperature rose from 22° at 8:30 PM (the day's low) to 34° shortly before midnight (day's high).  This storm was somewhat similar to the one on this date 10 years earlier.

 

2015

The day after a record high and a record mild low were set (67/55), today's high/low of 67/53 tied the records for the date.  After foggy/overcast conditions during the daylight hours, there was a period of heavy rain fell between 7-8:00 PM (amounting to 0.33").  Temperatures then rose, with the record-tying temperature occurring shortly before midnight.  Today and the previous two days were 23 degrees above average.

2019

The rainstorm that moved in yesterday at mid-afternoon continued overnight and ended around 8:00 AM today.  1.96" of rain was measured (0.81" yesterday, 1.15" this morning), bringing the month's precipitation over five inches (5.04"), making this just the third December to have more than five inches in the first two weeks of the month (1983 and 1996 were the other two years).

 

 

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November 2019 - Cold & Dry

November 2019 was the 31st coldest November and 32nd driest (going back to 1869).  It tied November 2012 as coldest November of this century.  Nine days had lows of 32° or colder, the most since 2013 and well above the 21st century average of three.  Looking at precipitation, the first 17 days of the month had just 0.25" of rain.  1.95" was measured for the entire month (more than two inches below average), with much of the rain concentrated during the seven days between 11/18-24.  Despite the cold temperatures no snow fell.  Other interesting aspects:

 

• The 11-day period between 11/8-18 was ten degrees below average (six days had mean temperatures that were 10-20 degrees below average).  The month's other nineteen days had temperatures that were close to average, resulting in the month being 3.8 degrees colder than average overall (its average low was 4.5 degrees below average).  This was the most below average of any month since March 2015 (-4.4 degrees).

• Half of the Novembers that were colder than Nov. 2019 occurred in the 19th century (1869-1899).  Looking at the past 100 years Nov. 2019 tied for ninth coldest.

• The mildest reading of the month was 71° in the early hours of 11/1; the coldest reading was 23° on 11/13.  That reading was a record for the date and followed a record low of 25° the day before that.

• Gusty winds on Thanksgiving Day somewhat marred Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Up until a few hours before the parade started it was uncertain whether its famous balloons would be permitted to float high above the streets of Midtown Manhattan, but it was decided to let them participate at a much lower height than usual.  Wind was the only issue as temperatures were at seasonable levels and there was no rain.

 

 

• On 11/13 the relative humidity at mid-day fell to an exceptionally low 13%, the lowest humidity reported in November in the years of the 21st century.  It was also the only date outside of March and April with a humidity level this low.

• Last November, 3.3 degrees colder than average, seemed more wintry than this November because it featured a 6.4" snowstorm and had one of the coldest readings ever reported in November, 15°.  It also was one of the wettest Novembers.  While its average high was 0.9 colder than this November, it's average low was 1.9 degrees milder.  Like Nov. 2019, the equally cold Nov. 2012 was dry (1.81").  However, a big difference was that Nov. 2012 had a snowfall of 4.7" on 11/7-8 (the earliest accumulation of four inches or more).

 

 

Other November recaps:

2018

2017

2016

2015

 

 

 

 

A Reading in the 90s Makes October 2019 Memorable in New York

Although above average rainfall characterized October 2019, a day of sizzling heat at the beginning of the month is likely what many New Yorkers will remember.  After having no days in the 90s in September, the high on 10/2 was a torrid 93°, 24 degrees above average - and the first 90-degree reading in October since 1941.  (The high the next day, however, was thirty degrees chillier.)  As for the rain, 6.15" was measured, the most in October since 2006, and the second rainiest month of the year (May had 6.77").  A little more than half of the month's rain fell on two days: on 10/16, when 1.83" fell, and 10/27 (1.38").

 

The month was three degrees warmer than average and was the 24th mildest October on record (but it ranked 12th for average low).  And although it had just a few days with highs of 70° or warmer or lows in the 60s, the month also had very few days with highs in the 50s or lows in the 40s (the chilliest reading was 43° on the 19th).  Similar to September, October ended with 11 days in a row with above average readings (averaging six degrees above average).  Temperatures between 10/3-20 were average while the other 13 days of the month were seven degrees above average.

 

In the years since 1900 three out of four Octobers have had their chilliest readings in the 30s or 20s.  October 2019 joined only five other Octobers whose chilliest lows were 43° or milder.  (The mildest reading to be the chilliest October low is 45°, which happened in 1945 and again in 1971.)  The typical chilliest October temperature is around 38° (fourteen Octobers since 1900 had chilliest readings of 32° or colder; the last time it occurred was in 1988).

 

 

The low on Halloween was 60°, 15 degrees above average.  It joined 10/1 and 10/2 as the only days in October with lows in the 60s.  The high of 71° on 10/31 was the warmest reading on the holiday in ten years, when the high was also 71°.  It was also the mildest reading since 10/14.  (And although 10/31's high of 71° was 22 degrees cooler than 10/2's, its low was just three degrees lower.)

 

 

Finally, October's plentiful rainfall followed a very dry September, in which just 0.95" was measured.  And while this was a decided contrast, it wasn't nearly as extreme as Sept/Oct 2005 when  October saw 16.73" after a paltry 0.48"; April/May 2007, when April had 13.05" and May had just 1.88"; and Aug/Sept 1882, when September had 16.85" and August only 1.14".

Here are links to other October recaps:

2018

2017

2016

 

 

 

September 2019 - One of 10 Driest Septembers On Record

September 2019 was the first month since October 2013 to have less than an inch of rain; it was the eighth driest September on record (0.95" was measured).  Thru 9/20 the month had average temperatures; then the last ten days were eight degrees warmer than average, resulting in the month being 2.4 degrees above average (24th warmest since 1869).  Although it was warmer than average the month had just one low of 70º+, the fewest in September in ten years (there were none in 2009).  It was also the first September since 2011 not to have any highs of 90° or hotter. 

 

This September added to the record set last year when last September was the fourth in a row with an average temperature of 70.0 degrees or warmer.  September 2019, however, was the "coolest" of the five.  However, a record that was tied last September, the sixth September in a row with a high in the 90s, wasn't broken this year as the hottest temperature this September was 89°.  (It occurred on 9/23 - the same date as the month's only low in the 70s).

 

 

Two-thirds of September's paltry amount of rain fell in the first six days of the month, split mostly between Labor Day (when 0.30" fell mid-day, the most to fall on the holiday in sixteen years) and 9/6, when the most northernmost band of hurricane Dorian dropped 0.27" in less than an hour during mid-afternoon.

 

 

Finally, humidity of 15% or lower occurs very infrequently in New York, and when it has happened it's been confined to March and April (in the years since 2000) - until 9/19, when it dropped to 15% for a few hours that afternoon.  The last time the humidity was this low in September was on Sept. 11, 2001, when it bottomed out at 16%.

 

Here are recaps of the five previous Septembers:

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

 

 

 

 

One Word Sums Up New York's Weather in August 2019: 'Uninspiring'

August, much like June, had close to average temperatures (+0.3 degree).  Perhaps the most interesting story during this month of uneventful conditions was the twelve-day period from Aug. 17 thru 28 in which the first six days were very warm (average high/low of 89/73, including the month's three days in the 90s) followed by six days that were pleasantly cool (high/low of 75/64).  The month's three days in the 90s went no higher than 90° (something which has occurred just once before, in August 2014).  Finally, this was the sixth consecutive August with no readings in the 50s.

 

The month had somewhat below average rainfall.  The 3.70" that was measured was the least precipitation since February's 3.14".  Much of it fell on three days: 1.18" on 8/7, 0.64" on 8/18 and 1.01" on 8/22.  (Although August 2019 had less than average rainfall there were six drier Augusts in the 2010s.)  There were ten thunderstorms or brief periods of heavy rain in the three weeks between 8/3 and 8/22.  They occurred mostly in the afternoon and evening and were responsible for the day's lows occurring in the evening rather than at around daybreak.  Without these cool downs there would have been five days with lows of 75° or warmer rather than one.

 

Here are recaps of the four previous Augusts:

2018

2017

2016

2015

 

 

 

 

Cooling Thunderstorms Prevent July 2019 From Ranking Among 10 Hottest Julys

As July 2019 came to a close it appeared the month was about to join three other Julys from the 2010s ranked among New York's ten hottest Julys.  As late as 3PM on 7/31 the day's high/low was 87/76, and if that low temperature held  the month would have tied July 1966 as ninth hottest (both with average temperatures of 79.66°).  But then mid-afternoon thunderstorms erupted between 3-4:30 and the temperature tumbled to 70° - making it the day's new low.  This brought July 2019's average temperature down to 79.56°, pushing it to eleventh place, 0.05 degree cooler than July 1949 (79.56° vs 79.61°).  However, as a consolation prize, July 2019's average low was warm enough for it to rank fifth in this category. 

 

Other observations:

• Besides the thunderstorms of 7/31, thunderstorms on 7/17 and 7/22 also resulted in lows that occurred in the evening.  Much of the month's rain fell from these two rainstorms, with 2.33" falling on 7/17-18 and 2.19" on 7/22-23.  So far this year these are 2019's two biggest 24-hour rainfalls.  And with 5.77" measured July 2019 became the second rainiest of the fifteen hottest Julys.  This was after just 0.08" of rain fell in the first ten days of the month.  (Last July, which had nearly seven-and-a-half inches of rain, also started out dry, with just 0.24" measured in the first eleven days of the month.)

 

 

• There were ten days in July with highs of 90°+ (average is eight), making it the sixth July of the decade to have this many, the most of any decade.

 

 

• This July joined 36 others that have had ten or more days with highs of 90°+.  However, July 2019's ten torrid days had the "coolest" average temperature, tied with July 1887 (91.7°).  July's hottest temperature, 95° on 7/20 and 7/21, was one of the coolest readings for hottest temperature among the Julys with ten or more 90°+ days; those other months' hottest readings averaged 99.4° (half of them had hottest readings in the triple digits).  But the average low on July 2019's hot days, 74.9°, was warmer than 24 of the 36 other Julys. 

• July 1's low of 65° was the "coolest" reading of the month.  Only July 2008 has had a warmer "coolest" reading (66° on three dates).  The month had two days with lows in the 80s, which were the same two days that had highs of 95°.  It joined ten other Julys that had two or more lows in the 80s.  Lastly, this was the unprecedented tenth year in a row in which July had no readings in the 50s.

• What was notable about July 2019 was its consistent warmth but absence of extreme heat (excluding heat indexes).  26 days had highs of 85° or warmer, one shy of the July record, which has happened in three years: 1944, 1966 and 1993 (the average number of such days is 17).  Additionally, 24 days had lows of 70° or warmer, the second most on record; only July 2010 had more, with 25 (the July average is 15).

• I refer to the week of 7/16 as as New York's "Hell Week" because, historically, it is the week most likely to have readings of 90° or hotter.  And this year six of July's ten 90-degree highs were concentrated during this week.  The one day not in the 90s, 7/18, was stuck in the 70s all day (high/low of 79/71) due to overcast skies and northeasterly winds.  Ironically, 7/18 has been the date most likely to have a high in the 90s/100s.

 

 

• July was the third month in a row with more than five inches of rain, joining three other years which had five or more inches in May, June and July (1984, 1989 and 2009).  Although the 18.05" that was measured was nearly five inches above average it was significantly less than what fell in the other three years.

 

 

• Finally, for the fifth year in a row 4th of July had a warmer high than the previous year.  And with a high of 90°, this year's was the hottest 7/4 since 2012.

 

Here are recaps for the five previous Julys:

July 2018

July 2017

July 2016

July 2015

July 2014

 

 

Recap of June 2019's Weather in New York

June 2019, like June 2018, was 0.2 degrees above average (this followed a May that was 0.2 degrees below average).  However, this June's average high was 0.6 degrees cooler than last June while its average low was 0.6 milder.  The first half of the month was 0.7 degree cooler than average while the second half was 1.2 degrees warmer.  Similar to last June the warmest period came at the end of the month, with the four-day period between 6/26-29 six degrees above average (high/low of 89/72); this included the year's first high in the 90s (91° on 6/29, a month later than usual).  Although the month was average in the temperature department rainfall was an inch above average (5.46"), making this the rainiest June in six years.  The biggest daily rainfall was 0.86", which happened twice, on 6/2 and 6/25.  On both dates the rain poured down in less than an hour.  Here are a few other highlights:

 

• Besides the year's first reading in the 90s being a month behind schedule, the year's first low in the 70s, on 6/25, was three weeks later than usual.  It was the first of five days in a row with a low in the 70s (6/30 looked to be the sixth but the temperature dropped to 69° as midnight approached).

• Father's Day and Gay Pride Day both were seasonably warm (high/low of 80/65 and 83/69) but Gay Pride Day had more sunshine.  Both days saw a shower, but the shower that fell on Gay Pride Day (0.06") was more disruptive because it fell mid-afternoon during the parade (the first rain to fall during the parade in eleven years) while the shower on Father's Day (0.04") was shortly before daybreak. 

• May and June had 12.28" of rain, making this the 11th wettest May/June combo on record. The 10 years with more all occurred in the years since 1948.  (Greatest amounts were 19.03" in 1989, 18.10" in 2013 and 17.69" in 1972.)

• 2019 became the 36th year (since 1869) to have one or fewer days in the 90s thru June 30.  (The average number is four).  And of the fifteen years (excluding this year) that had one day in the 90s during this period the total number of such days for the year averaged eleven (with 1955 and 2015 having the most, 25 and 20, respectively).

• Although the coolest reading of the month, 54°, was on 6/2, the coolest day of the month was on 6/13, with a high/low of 65/55 (eleven degrees below average).  This was the coolest mean temperature in more than four weeks.

 

Here are recaps of the previous three Junes:

2018

2017

2016

 

Junes With No 90-Degree Days

As meteorological summer gets underway (June 1 thru Aug. 31) a typical June will see two or three days with highs in the 90s.  However, about once every five years no readings this hot occur; since 1869 there have been 31 years in which this has happened, most recently in 2016 (and at the other end of the spectrum, one June in four has five or more 90-degree days, the most recent being in 2012). 

 

 

Using 90° as the cut-off for hot conditions, rather than 88° or 89°, is a bit arbitrary (and doesn't take into account humidity levels).  Nonetheless, a June with no readings of 90+ is usually results in a cooler than average June.  For example, none of the ten coolest Junes had any high temperatures in the 90s.  Additionally, the five coolest summers started out with a June with no 90-degree readings.  But not every June with no readings in the 90s is so cool.  In fact, the warmest June with no 90s was in 2014.  It was 1.1 degree warmer than average and ranks 39th warmest (out of 150).  And, surprisingly, one of the ten hottest summers, 2016's, started out with a 90s-free June.  Here are some other tidbits:

 

• The most years in a row to have a June without a 90-degree reading is three (1926-1928).  Interestingly, this streak was bracketed by Junes with five or more 90-degree highs (1923 had eight, 1925 had nine, and 1929 and 1930 each had five).  The most consecutive years in which June had at least one day in the 90s is 12 (1997-2008).

• Despite having no days in the 90s in June four years had an above average number of 90-degree days: 1955 (25); 1977 (23); 2016 (22) and 1979 (19).  The average number of 90-degree days in years that had no 90-degree readings in June has been 10 (an average year, since 1930, has had 18; before that the average was just 11).

• 11 of the 31 years with no June 90s had 90-degree readings prior to June 1, with 1977 having the most such days, three.

• 89° was the hottest reading in 12 of the years in which June had no readings in the 90s.  Three of those years had their 89° reading on 6/30 (this excludes any June that had a high of 89° on 6/30 but on other dates in June as well).  One June had it occur on 6/1, another on 6/2.  And three years had their first 90-degree reading on 7/1.

• The coolest warmest reading in June is 81°, occurring in 1903 (the coolest June on record).

 

 

• June 2016 and 1955 had the most readings between 85°-89°, ten.

• Finally, daily low temperatures in the 70s are sometimes considered the counterpart of highs in the 90s.  Interestingly, 22 of the 31 Junes with no 90s had lows in the 70s (nine had some lows of 72° or warmer).  Seven of these Junes had three or more, with June 1869 having the most, seven.  The warmest low during a June with no 90s was 76° in 2014.

 

 

 

May 2019 Continued April's Wet Trend, But With More Rain

Like the month preceding it, May 2019 was characterized by a surfeit of rainy days.  There were 19 with measurable rain, which tied December 1972 and May 1973 for the second greatest number for any month.  (The most days, 20, occurred in July 1871 and May 1888).  However, May 2019 distinguished itself by having more rain than those other months (see chart below).  The amount that fell, 6.82", made this May the 12th rainiest on record.  Although it had one more day of rain than April (its 18 days was a record for April), nearly two-and-a-half inches more rain fell.  But despite the high frequency of rain, much of it occurred on just five days: 1.31" on 5/5; 1.32" on 5/12; 0.70" on 5/13; 0.80" on 5/29; and 0.95" on 5/30.

 

 

In addition to the well above average number of rainy days, this May will also be remembered for the damp and unusually cool conditions on Mother's Day and the two days after.  2.32" of rain fell on these three days (1.32" of it on Mother's Day) and the average high/low of 53/43 was 14 degrees cooler than average.  By contrast, the Memorial Day weekend was mostly nice,  the exception being later in the afternoon on Sunday when clouds moved in and there was an hour of heavy showers.  The three-day weekend's average high/low was 79/60, four degrees above average, and featured the warmest reading of the month, 86° on Sunday.  (The warmest mean temperature, however, occurred on 5/20, one week before Memorial Day, with a high/low of 85/66).

 

Temperature-wise, the month was average (officially, 0.2 degrees below average), with the first half of May three degrees below average while the second half was two degrees above average.  (If the chilly three-day period from May 12-14 were taken out, the month would have been 1.3 degrees milder than average.)  Seven days were five or more degrees above average while six were five or more below average.  Four days with highs in the 80s were balanced by four days with lows in the 40s, both fewer than the month's average (of seven and six days, respectively). 

 

Finally, there was an eight-day streak of rainy days (May 10-17) that had 2.56" of rain.  This was just the thirteenth eight-day steak since 1900.  Coincidentally, last May had rain on seven of eight days around the same time of the month (May 12-19), which amounted to 2.14".  And Mother's Day both years was cool (59/43 this year, 54/52 in 2018).

 

Here are recaps of the previous four Mays:

2018

2017

2016

2015

 

 

April 2019 Weather Recap

As we headed into the last week of April it appeared the month had a good chance of becoming either the fifth, sixth or seventh mildest April on record.  But when the last five days of the month averaged five degrees cooler than average, it ended up as the 13th mildest, 2.5 degrees above average (still a noteworthy achievement as it was milder than 138 other Aprils).  Perhaps a bigger highlight was the month's 18 days with measurable precipitation, the most since May 2012.  This was also the most days of precipitation of any April.  However, despite the frequent rainfall, the 4.55" that was measured was just an average amount (the month's average is 4.50").  Despite being only average, this amount was enough to make April the wettest month so far this year. 

 

The five chilly days at the end of the month were immediately preceded by a two-week period with above average temperatures (six degrees above average); this was the longest streak of above average days since one of eighteen days in late December/early January.  This mild streak included the year's first reading in the 80's, 80° on 4/19, which was Good Friday (just the fifth Good Friday with a high in the 80s); Easter Sunday cooled down to a high of 66°.  The month's coldest reading, 33°, occurred on 4/1.  (Since 2000 April's warmest temperature has averaged 85°, its coldest reading has averaged 33°.)

 

Finally, 2019's mild April came a year after the coldest April in 40 years (which followed the second mildest April on record).  Despite the disparity between the two years, April 2018's warmest temperature was two degrees above this year's (82° vs. 80°) while its coldest reading was just one degree lower (32°).

 

Here are recaps of previous Aprils:

2018

2017

2016

 

National Weather Service's Year-Round Use of 'Standard Time' Can Cause Confusion

I had been writing this blog for a number of years before learning that the National Weather Service doesn't recognize Daylight Saving Time (the period roughly between mid-March thru early November).  Instead, its reported observations throughout the year reflect Standard Time.  Because of this policy, weather conditions that occur between midnight and 12:59 AM during DST are reported as part of the previous day's weather observation (credited to 11:00-11:59 PM).  And the rest of each day's weather observations are reported as happening in the previous hour.

 

I discovered this quirk because I check hourly observations every day on one of the NWS sites, and during the spring, summer and first half of the fall (i.e., when DST is in effect) I noticed that rainfall and temperature for the first hour of each day was credited to the previous day.  Then when Standard Time resumed the weather conditions of each day's first hour were back to being part of that same day.

 

 

I thought that, perhaps, this decision was made over concern by the NWS about how to report conditions that occur during the "skipped" hour, i.e., when we "spring ahead" at 2AM for DST (losing the 60 minutes between 2-3AM), or when the hour between 1-2AM is repeated when we "fall back" at the start of Standard Time.  However, it turns out the reason was simpler than that as the US is a signatory of an agreement drawn up by the World Meteorological Organization calling for Universal Coordinated Time to be used as the standard (i.e., not seasonally adjusted).  However, I can't help wondering why local weather records shouldn't reflect the time that its population is conducting its life in.  And it's curious that Standard time, which lasts about four months in much of the US, is the year-round standard.

 

 

 

So what does this mean in practice?  Let's say that a rainstorm at 12:30 AM DST on May 10 kept you awake.  Using Standard Time rather than DST, the NWS would report that the rain fell at 11:30 PM on May 9; however, in the world of Daylight Saving Time that you're living in you may have been watching TV at 11:30 and not in bed being kept awake by the rain. 

 

(These parallel time frames bring to mind how life was in the US before time zones were established.  Prior to their creation in 1883 there were two types of time.  True Solar Time, based on the sun's actual position over a city, was precise and used by the general public in conducting its day-to-day activities, with every city having its own time (e.g., when it was noon in NYC it was 12:10 PM in Boston, 11:55 AM in Philadelphia, and 11:50 in Washington, DC).  Railway Time, on the other hand, was used by the railroads for scheduling arrivals and departures of its trains and was the impetus for the establishment of time zones, whereby New York, Boston, Philly and DC all had the same time).

 

    

Over the course of a year there are instances of daily records hinging on what happens either during the last hour of the day or the first hour of the next day, and the DST-Standard Time situation creates a "fuzzy" reality.  For example, sometimes there are days during DST when it appears a rainfall record has been set, but using Standard time is the official measure, the amount from midnight-1AM DST is credited to 11PM-midnight, erasing what appeared to be a record amount (however, there can be instances were adding rain to the previous day could result in a record amount for that date).  Regarding temperature records, I can recall a few instances in early October during the past fifteen years when it appeared a new record for the latest date for a low of 70+ was going to be established only to find that, although the temperature dropped below 70° after midnight DST, it was actually credited to the day before, so no record was set. 

 

Of course, in the grand scheme of things, this isn't a big deal.  Since it's doubtful many people are aware of this idiosyncrasy it's a case of ignorance being bliss.  However, for those of us who are aware of this quirk it's annoying (like a hangnail). 

 

 

Here are a number of other thought pieces I've written about weather measurement:

 

A Case For Reporting Temperature & Precipitation to One or Two Decimals

Can Trace Amounts of Precipitation Add Up to Measurable Amounts?

Why 2011, Not 1983, Should be Crowned as NYC's Wettest Year