New York Weather Highlights of 1986

 

 

JANUARY

15 - Today's high of 24°/low of 8° made this the coldest day of the winter, sixteen degrees below average.

18 - The mildest reading of the month (63°) occurred three days after the coldest (8° above zero).

22 - The average high/low during the past five days was 56°/40°, sixteen degrees above average. 

26 - 2.19" of rain fell, a record for the date.  Much of it fell before 9 AM, but a second round of rain, from another low pressure system, moved in after 10 PM.  It was this second period of rain that pushed the day's rainfall past the previous 1895 record for the date (1.95").

28 - The winter's first one-inch snowfall came in the wee hours of the morning and the daylight hours were clear and cold with a high/low of 23°/14°.  (This was also the day the space shuttle Challenger blew up shortly after lift-off down at Cape Kennedy.)   

29 - Today's high/low of 23°/14° was the same as yesterday's, which is the coldest pair of identical highs/lows on record (out of nearly 350 such pairs that have occurred). 

30 - This was the fourth day in a row in which measurable snow fell.  In the 1980-2020 period, this would happen just two other times (Jan. 28-31, 2007 and during the winter of 2019 there were five days in a row, Feb. 28 - Mar. 4).  However, the snow during these days was more of the "nuisance" variety, with just 0.2" falling today, 0.4" yesterday, 1.4" on Jan. 28 and 0.2" on Jan. 27.

 

FEBRUARY

7 - It was a snowy Friday as 4.5" of snow fell (0.2" of it after midnight into Saturday).

11 - The second 4.5" snowfall in the past four days occurred today.  These two small snowstorms accounted for most of the winter's 13 inches of snow.

16 - The 0.3" of snow that fell today was the last snowfall of the winter, a winter in which just 13 inches fell, less than half of the normal amount.

22 - For the fourth day in a row the high temperature was 40°.

 

MARCH

2 - Since Feb. 18 every day but one had a high between 37° and 40°.  The lows during these thirteen days, however, had a much wider range (from 18° to 36°).

15 - The 0.06" of rain that fell just before sunrise was the first measurable precipitation on this date since 1975 (when just 0.01" fell).

20 - A vigorous cold front moved through and the temperature plummeted from 62° to 21°.

21 - Today was 16 degrees colder than normal (low of 18°) two days after it was 16 degrees milder than average (high of 70°). 

26 - Today's high of 75° (twenty-two degrees above average) was 57 degrees warmer than the low on 3/21 (nineteen degrees below average), which was 52 degrees colder than the high on 3/19.

 

APRIL 

2 - Today was the last of an eight-day stretch in which temperatures averaged 13 degrees above average - including back-to-back afternoon highs of 78° on March 29 and 30.  Average high/low during these days was 72°/51°.

8 - After showers at daybreak the sun came out and for the second year in a row the Yankees played their home opener in temperatures in the mid-70s.  And like last year the Yankees won.

17 - Rain that began the night of April 15 continued through mid-afternoon today.  Total rainfall was 2.78", with the bulk falling yesterday (1.91"). 

 

MAY

6 - Today's high of 92° was a record for the date, and the first 90-degree day of the year.  This was quite a contrast from 1985, which didn't see its first 90-degree day until July 14, the second latest date on record for this occurrence.

25 - The weather was very pleasant for New Yorkers when they formed their part of the "Hands Across America" chain this afternoon.  Skies were partly cloudy and the high temperature reached 80°.

30 - Today's high/low of 94°/73° made this the hottest day of the month.  The high was twenty degrees above average and wouldn't be topped for more than five weeks.

31 - On a sizzling hot day (high of 93°) 0.70" of rain poured down during an afternoon thunderstorm between 2:50-3:50 PM.

 

JUNE

1 - Today, with a high of 90°, was the 17th consecutive day with above-average temperatures.  During this two-and-a-half week period temperatures were 7.5 degrees warmer than normal (high of 81°/low of 63°). 

 

JULY

4 - Although hot weather and July 4th seem synonymous, this year's began at a chilly 55°, twelve degrees below average and the coolest 4th of July temperature on record.

6 - Today's mean temperature of 86.5 degrees (the average of the high and low) was the hottest of the summer after a high/low of 98°/75°.  This followed by two days the coolest reading of the month, 55°.

7 - For the second day in a row the high hit 98°.

26 - Today's high of 90° was the last 90-degree day of the summer (and eleventh overall).  This was the earliest date for a year's last 90-degree reading since 1902 (and one day earlier than 1982).  During a mid-afternoon thunderstorm 0.73" poured down between 1:54-2:54 PM.

 

AUGUST

6 - Since Aug. 2 four of the five days had highs of 85°, the other day (Aug. 4) had a high of 86°.

28 - This was the first of four mornings with unseasonably chilly morning lows in the low-50s.  Temperatures during these mornings were: 52° (today), 50°, 51° and 54°.  These readings were well below the average low of 66° and more typical of mid-October.

29 - This morning's low was a chilly 50°, tying a number of previous years for the coolest reading ever reported during this month.  The last time it was this cool in August was in 1976.  

30 - Today was the start of Labor Day weekend and the morning low of 51° was the chilliest reading of any day during Labor Day weekends between 1970-2022.  The entire holiday weekend was cool, with temperatures averaging eight degrees below normal.

 

SEPTEMBER

30 - After August ended with autumn-like temperatures, today's summer-like high of 89° was 20 degrees above average and a record for the date.

 

OCTOBER

26 - A steady light rain during the daylight hours (amounting to 0.64") forced postponement of Sunday's Game 7 of the World Series at Shea Stadium.  This followed the incredible comeback by the Mets last night in Game 6 when a ground ball went through the legs of Red Sox 1st baseman Bill Buckner in extra innings giving the Mets the improbable win. 

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

 

NOVEMBER

19 - The 0.41" of rain that fell between midnight and 4 AM was the first measurable precipitation on this date since 1973.  Temperatures slowly fell throughout the day, from 40° at midnight to 27° twenty-four hours later, resulting in a mean temperature twelve degrees below average.

20 - In a reverse of yesterday, temperatures rose throughout the day, from 26° at midnight to 57° twenty-four hours later.  Rain moved in after dark, with half of the night's 0.94" of rain falling between 11 PM and midnight.

26 - A 12-hour rainstorm between 9 AM and 9 PM dumped 1.72" of rain, with 0.51" falling in an hour-long period shortly before the rain came to an end (6:46-7:46 PM).

 

DECEMBER

3 - 2.73" of rain fell over the course of two days, beginning at 2 PM yesterday and continuing thru daybreak today (1.62" fell yesterday, 1.11" today).  Also, today's high of 59° was the mildest reading of the month. 

9 - The first snowfall of the season, amounting to 0.6", fell in the wee hours of the morning, but the snow changed over to rain as the temperature rose throughout the day, from 32° to 51° at midnight.  In total 0.87" of precipitation was measured.  This was the only snowfall of the month.  

25 - It was a wet Christmas Eve/Christmas Day morning as 1.05" of rain fell during Santa's peak travel time between 7  PM (yesterday) to 3 AM (today).

 

To read highlights from other years between 1970 and 20121 double click here. 

 

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