JANUARY
1 - Temperatures were nearly as mild as a year ago (high/low of 55°/49°) but this year differed as the day featured sunny skies.
6 - This was the ninth day in a row with a mean temperature 10 degrees or more above average, the longest such streak since another one of nine days in December 2015 (there was a 10-day streak in October 1990). The average high/low during this streak was 56°/46°, sixteen degrees above average. And although this was the last day of the streak, tomorrow would still be well above average (+7 degrees).
14 - For the first time this year the temperature fell to 32°. Only 2005 started with a longer streak, with its first reading of 32° or colder happening on 1/15. This was also the 18th day in a row with above average temperatures.
16 - This morning's low of 28° would be the coldest reading of the month - the mildest coldest reading of any January on record, breaking the previous record of 25° in January 1937. (January 2023 would become the mildest January on record.)
29 - The winter of 1973's record for latest date of the first measurable snowfall was broken today - and it would continue to be broken into February. (The average winter in Central Park has 14.2" of snowfall by the end of January.)
FEBRUARY
1 - At long last Central Park had its first measurable snow of the winter as 0.4" accumulated in the pre-dawn hours. This is the longest NYC had to wait for this event (the previous record was 1/29 during the winter of 1973). Not only was today the end of the City's record snowless streak, it was also the end of its record 35-day streak with above average mean temperatures. Today was 2 degrees colder than average (high/low of 38°/26°). And, finally, this morning's low was the coldest reading since the day after Christmas.
4 - This morning's frigid low of +3° was Central Park's coldest reading in four years (+2° on 1/31/19) and the coldest reading in February in seven years (-1° on 2/14/16). And from 3-7 AM howling winds gusting between 25-35 mph produced wind chills between -10° and -15°. Today's reading was in sharp contrast to January's coldest of 28° (the mildest coldest reading in January on record). Finally, although today's reading was the coldest of the winter, the coldest day of the winter (based on average temperature) remained 12/24, with a high/low of 15°/7° (today's high reached 27° shortly before midnight).
Today's low was the ninth time since 2000 that a reading of 3° or colder occurred (and the fourth time it's happened in February).
14 - Through today, just 0.05" of precipitation fell in Central Park this month, making this the second driest first half of February on record. Only February 1980 had a smaller amount.
16 - The day after a high of 67° today was even milder as the high reached 70°, one degree shy of tying the record for the date. This was the mildest reading in February since 2018, when the warmest reading of any February, 78°, occurred on 2/21. And it was the earliest date for a year's first reading of 70+ since 2007 (when it occurred on 1/6). Showers in the afternoon produced a rather meager 0.07" of rain, but it was more than what fell in the first 15 days of the month (0.05").
Finally, this was the ninth day in a row in which the temperature remained above freezing, a period that was 14 degrees above average (average high/low of 56°/44°).
20 - Although the warmest high temperature on Presidents' Day is 64° in 2008, President's Day 2023 has the distinction of having the mildest mean temperature, with a high/low of 61°/47° (2008's low was 40°), 17 degrees above average.
23 - A new winter record (meteorological winter) was established as Central Park had its 59th frost-free day, surpassing the 58 days experienced during the winters of 2012 and 1998. Average number is 35 days.
27 - The second measurable snowfall of the winter (the first was on 2/1) began this evening and brought 1.8" of snow (half of it fell today, the other half in the overnight hours). Three to six inches fell in outlying suburbs, where temperatures were colder. This would be the biggest snowfall of a winter that would be the least snowiest on record.
MARCH
7 - after daybreak, light precipitation that began briefly as snow accumulated 0.1" and would be the last measurable snowfall of a winter that was the least snowy on record with just 2.3" reported (all but today's fell in February); this was 0.5" less than the previous least snowiest winter (1972-73).
30 - It was a chilly home opener for the Yankees with game time temperatures only in the mid-40s, ten degrees colder than average, along with breezy conditions. However, the game was played under sunny skies. The day's low of 31° was one of only four days with a low of 32° or colder in March (the average number is ten).
APRIL
6 - Afternoon temperatures were more than 30 degrees warmer than 24 hours earlier; today's high of 80°, a record for the date, was the warmest reading in Central Park since 9/21. This would have been one of the Mets' nicest home openers, weatherwise, but the team postponed today's game yesterday based on a forecast of showers and thunderstorms, which ended up staying well to the south of NYC.
7 - The Mets home opener, delayed by one day, was played in seasonable temperatures (mid-50s) and under mostly sunny skies. Similar to last year's home opener, afternoon humidity was very low and dipped to 16% as the game was getting under way. As for the game, the Mets easily topped Miami, 9-3.
9 - Easter Sunday featured brilliant sunshine and low humidity; temperatures were a few degrees below average (high/low of 57°/40°). In the early afternoon the humidity dropped to 15%. This was the 23rd day this year to have humidity fall to 25% or lower, something that didn't happen last year until 8/12.
13 - The temperature reached a sizzling 90°, which not only was a record for the date but the hottest reading in April since 2010 (when it occurred on 4/7, the earliest reading in the 90s on record). This was just the fourth 90+ day in the first half of April. (Typically, the first 90+ is around Memorial Day.)
Today was also the seventh day in a row with very low humidity (25% or lower), the longest streak of its kind this century. Over these seven days the humidity dropped to between 12% and 21% on each day. Because of the low humidity this afternoon's feels-like temperature was five degrees lower than the day's high. (An even longer streak, one of 11 days, would occur in May.)
14 - For the second day in a row a record high was set. Today's high of 91° (thirty degrees above average) was one degree hotter than yesterday. This was just the third time in April to have two or more consecutive days with highs in the 90s. (The average date for a year's second high in the 90s is 6/9.) Finally, this was the seventh day in a row with sunny skies (and thirteenth in a row with no measurable rain).
Additionally, today's low of 70° was the earliest low of 70° or milder on record, besting the former record by three days (74° on April 17, 2002). Only two other dates have had lows in the 70s in April (70° on April 18, 1976 and 76° April 18, 2002).
15 - Four streaks ended today: 13 days in a row with no measurable rain (0.02" fell today during the evening); eight consecutive days with very low humidity (ranging from 13% to 21%); eight days in a row with sunny skies; and three consecutive days with highs in the 80s or 90s. (However, a streak of days with highs of 75° or warmer reached five days.)
21 - With just 0.40" of rain measured through today this was the driest first three weeks in April since April 1968 (when 0.18" was reported). And since 4/2 just 0.02" of rain fell (and less than an inch since 3/15).
22-23 - A frontal system produced thunderstorms and heavy rain tonight that lasted thru tomorrow morning. The 0.68" of rain that fell thru midnight was the most to fall in one day in seven weeks. And between 10-11 PM the 0.40" of rain that poured down was equal to the amount that fell in the first three weeks of April (which was the driest first three weeks of April since April 1968). An additional 1.51" of rain would fall on 4/23 during the morning, making the storm total of 2.19" the greatest amount from a storm since the first week of October.
29 - For the first time (going back to 1869) more than an inch of rain fell on this date. Today's rainfall of 2.46" broke the previous record of 0.91" in 1909. (This leaves Sept. 9 as the only date to never have had a rainfall of an inch or more.) The previous ten years in which rain fell on 4/29 the amounts were all less than 0.10".
30 - After drying out overnight from yesterday’s deluge, more rain moved in after 11 AM and it turned heavy between 3-7 PM when 1.57" poured down; by midnight 2.32” had fallen. This brought April’s total rainfall to 7.70”, making it the seventh wettest April on record. This was quite an accomplishment considering that in the first three weeks of the month just 0.40” had fallen. Then three storm systems dropped more than two inches of rain in the last nine days of the month.
Finally, despite this being the seventh day in a row with below average temperatures (averaging five degrees chillier than average) the month ended up being the second mildest April on record, behind April 2010. This followed January being the mildest on record, February the third mildest, and March the 25th.
MAY
6 -Today’s mean temperature was average for the date which meant the end of a 12-day streak with below average temperatures, which was the longest such streak since one of 16 days in April 2020. During this 12-day streak temperatures were six degrees below average. With that streak ended, today was the first day of a 14-day streak with sunny or clear skies.
7 - Today’s high of 78° was the warmest since the high reached 91° on 4/14. Today was also the 29th day this year in which the humidity dropped to 25% or lower. This was one more day than all of last year and the most annual days since 2010 which had 33.
19 - Today was the last day of a 14-day streak with sunny or clear skies. Temperatures were 2.5 degrees above average during this streak. Embedded in this two-week period was a 12-day streak in which humidity during the afternoon dropped to 25% or lower.
20 - The extended streak with sunny or clear skies ended today as rain soaked the City mostly during the afternoon. The 0.77" that was measured in Central Park was nearly double the amount that fell in the first 19 days of the month. Rain totals on Long Island, Westchester Co. and in Connecticut were much higher than NYC's, with many town receiving between 1.50" and 2.50".
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