New York Weather Highlights of 1998
JANUARY
1 - The morning low of 14° was the coldest reading of the winter. Today was also one of just two days this winter with a high temperature below freezing (the other day would be March 12). A typical winter has seventeen such days.
8 - Today's high of 65° was twenty-six degrees above average and a record for the date (it reached 70° in Newark).
11 - While most of eastern Canada was paralyzed by an epic six-day ice storm, NYC was basking in very mild weather. During the past nine days temperatures were 18 degrees milder than average. Average high/low during these days was 57°/43°, typical for the first week of April.
14 - Today was the month's second, and last, day with colder than average temps (high of 33°/low of 23°).
18 - The 0.5" of snow that accumulated during the morning was the first measurable snowfall of the winter, the latest first snow in twenty-five years. It was also the only snow that fell in January. (When February saw no snow, this made Jan/Feb the least snowy on record, passing Jan/Feb 1919, which had 0.8").
20 - This was the fifth day in a row in which temperatures were stuck in the 30s. The average high/low during these days was 38°/32°.
21 - High temperatures over the past seven days ranged between 37° and 39°.
23 - 2.55" of rain fell, with most of it (two inches) falling between 4-9 PM. This was a record rainfall for the date.
28 - In the past two weeks eight of the days had high temperatures of either 38° or 39°.
FEBRUARY
5 - A cold rain that began yesterday evening continued thru this evening, amounting to 1.36" (1.07" which fell today). Just two degrees separated today's high (36°) and low (34°).
13 - Today was the 30th day in a row with above-average temperatures - and 42nd out of the last 43 (beginning Jan. 2). The mean temperature during this six-week period was nine degrees above average. Then after two days of below-average temperatures on Feb. 14 and 15, there would be 22 more consecutive days with above-normal readings.
28 - This was the mildest February on record (since passed by Feb. 2012, 2017 and 2018), seven degrees above average). It also had no snowfall, the only February with this distinction. This followed an equally mild January which was 8.5 degrees above average. And today continued the mild trend as it was 11 degrees above average.
MARCH
9 - Beginning yesterday afternoon and continuing through midday today 2.32" of rain fell. Nearly half, 1.02", came down between 5-7 AM. Today's rainfall of 1.82" was a record for the date.
11 - This was the first day since New Year's Day with a high of 32° or colder. And tomorrow would be the third, and last, such day of the winter.
22 - It appeared this winter was going to have the least snow on record, with just 0.5" measured. Then a surprise five-inch snowfall occurred overnight and the winter of 1998 ended up as the fourth least snowy (behind 1973, 1919 and 1932). It would fall to fourth place four years later when the winter of 2001-02 had just 3.5".
27 - Five days after five inches of snow fell an extraordinary five-day warm spell began. Each day had high temperatures of 80° or higher. Today's high of 83° was a record.
31 - Today's high was 86°, tying March 29, 1945 as the warmest reading ever recorded in March. This was the last day of a five-day spring "heat wave". During this warm spell the average high/low was 82°/61°, twenty-six degrees above average. The next 80-degree day wouldn't be for another six and half weeks - and it was the last time (thru 2019) that a temperature in the 80s was reported in the month of March. Today also happened to be the home opener for the New York Mets (which they won in 11 innings over Philadelphia).
APRIL
1 - 1.78" of rain fell today with 1.16" of it coming down in a two-hour period between 6-8 PM.
9 - A nor'easter moved in during mid-afternoon, delivering 1.86" of rain (and 2.15" in total, when counting rain that continued into the wee hours of the following day). A peak wind gust of 51 mph was clocked in Central Park. Today's rainfall topped the amount that poured down on 4/1.
11 - The sixteen days between March 27 and today every day had a different high temperature. They ranged from 48° to 86°.
24 - The 0.03" of rain that fell today, following yesterday's 0.82", duplicated the rainfall of 4/19 (0.82") and 4/20 (0.03").
MAY
5 - Yesterday and today had the same high/low of 62°/55°. However, where today differed was that the afternoon was rainy (0.57" fell) while yesterday was dry.
6 - For the third day in a row with a low of 55°, four degrees above average.
9 - It was a dreary, rainy Mother's Day weekend as 1.42" of rain fell today (Saturday) and 1.94" would fall tomorrow.
11 - 4.32" of rain fell between May 8-11, which is the typical amount of rain for the entire month of May. Today's rainfall totaled 0.68".
31 - High temperatures during the past four days: 85°-84°-85°-84° (today).
JUNE
7 - One month after there were three days in a row with a low of 55° (May 4-6), today was the third day in a row with a low of 54°. This compares to an average low of 60°.
13 - 1.31" of rain fell between 10AM-noon. It came down especially hard in the second hour when 0.85" fell. This heavy rainfall followed steady rain that fell yesterday that amounted to 1.29".
15 - Today was the fifteenth consecutive day with cooler than average temperatures. During these days high temperatures ranged between 65° and 73° (average is 77°). This first half of June was six degrees cooler than average (the second half would be two degrees warmer than average).
16 - After the month of May had ten of them, today was the first 80-degree day in June, as well as the first day with an above-average mean temperature (+ 3 degrees). This was the latest date for the first 80-degree reading in June since 1916 (when it occurred on June 18).
25 - The year's first 90-degree temperature was today, four days later than last year's, and the latest date of this occurrence since 1985 (the typical date for the first 90-degree reading is May 31).
JULY
18 - Today was the fifth day in a row in which the high topped out at 85°.
22 - Today was the hottest day of the summer as the high topped out at 93° after a very warm low of 78°.
31 - The 0.33" of rain that fell this morning brought the month's paltry total to 1.09". This followed a very wet first half of the year in which 36 inches of precipitation fell - 60% above average. (The following July would be even drier, in fact the driest ever, with just 0.44" measured.)
AUGUST
6 - Today and the previous two days had similar highs/lows: 87°/70°, 86°/70° and 87°/70° (today).
12 - This was the 35th day in a row with high of 80° or warmer, the longest such streak since one of 40 days in 1966.
17 - The 2.38" of rain that fell today accounted for almost all of the rain that fell this month (2.78"). 1.49" of it fell in just two hours, between 1-3 PM.
SEPTEMBER
2 - The 0.69" of rain that fell this evening (between 7-10:00) was the first rain on this date in 13 years (when just 0.01" fell). The rain forced postponement of the US Open's evening matches.
6 - Today's high of 90° was the last 90-degree temperature of the year. In total, there were only eight days in the 90s in 1998, well below the average of seventeen. This was the eighth year this date had the last reading in the 90s, the most of any date (later tied in 2022).
7 - It was Labor Day and the afternoon and evening were marred by severe thunderstorms. 0.64" fell between 1-2 PM and later 1.61" fell between 9 PM-1 AM. This was the rainiest Sept. 7 on record.
27 - Today's high/low of 89°/69° was 15 degrees warmer than a typical late September day.
OCTOBER
1 - A torrential downpour dumped 0.97" of rain between 2-3 AM. No additional rain fell for the rest of the day.
NOVEMBER
6 - The AM lows of the past six days exhibited the following pattern: 43°-43°-38°-38°-36°-36° (today). Today and yesterday's readings were the coldest of the month, making this the first November since 1985 not to have a temperature of 32° or colder. It was also the mildest reading to be the chilliest of any November (later joined by November 2011).
26 - Two-thirds of the month's below-average rainfall fell today (0.97"), mostly between 7 AM-noon.
DECEMBER
3 - Today's high of 69°, twenty-three degrees above average, was a record for the date.
4 - More typical of late May, today's high of 74°, twenty-seven degrees above average, was a new record for the date.
7 - Today's high of 75° was a whopping twenty-eight degrees above average and set an all-time high for the month of December. It came just three days after a high of 74° and was the tenth consecutive day in which high temperatures were 60° or warmer.
17 - Today was the 25th day in a row with above-average temperatures. During this stretch of mild days temperatures were ten degrees above normal. This would be the mildest December since 1984.
22 - The temperature nosedived from a record high of 63° to 22° by midnight. This was the first subfreezing temperature of the season, the latest date for this occurrence on record, breaking the old 1948 record by eleven days. (Central Park was frost-free for nine months this year.) Between Nov. 29 and today temperatures were 11 degrees above average.
23 - This was the first day since Nov. 22 that had colder than average temperatures - and the first day this winter completely below freezing. Today's high/low of 29°/18° was in sharp contrast to the 55°/42° averaged in the first three weeks of the month.
24 - Two inches of snow fell before daybreak, the first snowfall of the winter. This was only the second colder-than-average day of a very mild December (high/low of 32°/23°).
29 - Only 1.12" of precipitation was measured this month and most of it fell today as 0.71" of rain fell. The entire second half of 1998 was very dry. After 36 inches of precipitation fell in the first half only 12.15" fell after July 1.
31 - Today's high/low of 25°/17° made this the coldest day of the year (and the second coldest day was on 1/1). The previous two years also ended with very cold morning lows - 17° and 15°.
To read highlights from other years between 1970 and 2023 double click here.
This March had days in the 80s, but no days in the 70s. Have there been other months with this distinction? If so, what were the months and their respective years?
Posted by: William | 03/08/2020 at 01:20 AM
Perhaps March 1921 could've had no days in the 70s but it had two days in the 80s
Posted by: Landen | 07/28/2020 at 11:28 PM