New York Weather Highlights of 2008
JANUARY
1 - Rain fell for the seventh day in a row, totaling 1.66" during these days. Today's amount was 0.17".
3 - With a bone chilling high of just 20° (and wind chills in the single digits), today was the first day this winter to be completely below freezing. This was the latest date for this first freezing-or-colder occurrence in 21 years (when it happened on Jan. 20, 1987 - the latest date ever). Combined with a low of 12°, this would be the coldest day of the winter - seventeen degrees below average.
7 - For the third year of the past four the year's first reading of 60° or milder happened in the first week of the year, a month earlier than average. (The other year's first 60+, in 2006, was on 1/9.)
11 - 0.54" of rain fell between 2:11-3:11 PM. Including rain that fell in the pre-dawn hours, 1.29" fell in total.
12 - This was the seventh day in a row with a mean temperature at least 11 degrees above average. The average high/low of 56°/43° during this week-long mild spell was 18 degrees warmer than normal, more typical of early April.
31 - Only a trace of snow fell this month, tying 1933 as the least snowy January on record.
FEBRUARY
1 - Although rain fell for twelve straight hours (9 AM-9 PM) nearly half of it, 0.77", fell in two hours (5:47-7:47 PM). Over the course of the storm 1.63" was measured.
6 - Today's high of 68° broke the previous record by 10 degrees.
11 - This morning's low of 10° was the coldest reading of the winter, five days after a record-high of 68°.
12 - Snow began during the afternoon and after 2.8" accumulated it changed over to sleet and freezing rain during the evening. The next day the storm continued as a big rainmaker.
13 - 1.94" of rain fell today, making it the rainiest day in February since 1973. (2.49" of precipitation fell during the storm's entirety.) After a low temperature of 10° two days ago today's high climbed to 54°.
22 - Six inches of slushy snow fell during the morning thru early afternoon, the biggest snowfall of the winter - and the largest accumulation since New York's all-time snowstorm two Februarys ago. Today's snow was also a record for the date.
28 - Today's high of 28°/low of 18° was fifteen degrees colder than average.
29 - This was the wettest February since 1981. And on this year's extra day 0.14" more precipitation filled the rain bucket. Additionally, 0.2" of snow fell, the most snowfall on Leap Year Day since 1968 when 1.1" fell (the most for the date). This was the last measurable snow of the winter, a season in which just 11.9" of snow fell - slightly less than last year's paltry 12.4".
MARCH
1 - Not only was today's high/low of 46°/33° the same as last year's on March 1, both year's first day of March had 0.14" of rain! However, this year it fell between 10 PM and midnight while last year's rain fell in the morning hours.
7 - 0.79" of rain fell in a three-hour period (between 6-9 PM) and 1.21" overall.
8 - The 0.75" of rain that fell this morning brought the month's total to 2.57", which was the same amount as last March through 3/8. (However, March 2007's total precipitation would be 1.27" greater.)
APRIL
1 - Game-time temperature was 67° (eleven degrees above average) under mostly overcast skies as the Yankees won their eleventh home opener in a row (after yesterday's game was postponed due to rain).
28 - This was the fifth 4/28 that fell on a Monday and had an inch or more of rain (1.18"). The other years it occurred in were 1913 (1.25"); 1958 (1.66"); 1980 (2.74"); and 1997 (1.02"). It joined Wednesday, 10/12 as the date with most occurrences of this much rainfall (later joined by Friday, 10/21 in 2016).
MAY
12 - A showery Monday morning (0.33") was followed by a raw and chilly afternoon. This was the sixth year of the past seven in which rain fell on this date. Today's high/low of 54°/45° was eleven degrees chillier than average.
JUNE
7 - This was the fourth year since 1971 to have its first 90-degree temperature on this date. And like 1999 (one of those four years), the high reached 94°. This was the first day of a four-day heat wave.
8 - A hot day as the high/low of 93°/74° was fifteen degrees above average.
9 - Today was a scorcher, with a high of 96°/low of 76°, sixteen degrees above average.
10 - For the second day in a row the high hit 96°, a record for the date. This was the last day of a four-day heat wave.
14 - 2.01" of rain fell, most of it between 3-9 PM. At one point 0.24" fell in a five-minute period between 7:07-7:12 PM and 0.84" fell in a 60-minute period between 3:26-4:26 PM.
29 - New York's Gay Pride Parade was interrupted by occasional tropical downpours between 1:30-5 PM (amounting to 0.59"). Before these thunderstorms popped up the temperature rose to 89°. (For weather highlights during other Gay Pride Parades click here.)
JULY
5 - Showers between 11 AM and 2 PM amounted to 0.25", making this the fifth year in a row that rain fell on this date. With a high of 74°/low of 68°, the day's mean temperature of 71° was the coolest of the month (four degrees below average).
19 - At 96°/78°, today was the hottest day of the summer.
20 - The 0.01" of rain that fell today in the late evening was just the second time measurable rain fell on this date in the past 19 years. During the daytime the temperature rose to 94°, the fifth day in a row of 90-degree heat.
21 - This was the last day of six-day heat wave, which accounted for half of the summer's 90-degree days. High temperatures during these days ranged between 92° and 96°.
22 - For the third day in a row 0.01" of rain was measured.
23 - 0.76" of rain fell in an hour (9:30-10:30 PM) and 0.34" in a five-minute period during that hour.
28 - The morning low of 66° was the coolest reading of the month (also reported on 7/11 and 7/25), the mildest coolest reading in July on record (one degree warmer than July 1993, 1970 and 1955).
AUGUST
1 - This was the third year in a row in which the high made it into the 90s on this date. Today's high of 90° was the only day in the 90s this month.
6 -Today's high of 87° was one degree above yesterday's high, two degrees warmer than two days ago and three higher than three days ago.
11 - 0.83" of rain thundered down in fifteen minutes between 9:45-10 AM. In total 1.18" was measured by the time the rain ended somewhat before 2 PM.
30 - 2.18" of rain fell today, most of it falling in the pre-dawn hours between 4-6 AM.
SEPTEMBER
4 - Today's high of 90° was the twelfth, and last 90-degree day of the year. Although this was below the average number of hot days for a year (seventeen), it was more than the previous two years (ten in 2007, eight in 2006).
6 - Tropical storm Hanna dumped 3.54" of rain, mostly between 2-8 PM. Rain was heaviest between 4-5 PM when 0.97" poured down. As a hurricane Hanna devastated Haiti and killed more than 500 people. It made landfall in the US near Myrtle Beach, SC. The rainfall Hanna dumped on New York was the biggest 24-hour soaker of the year and the most in sixteen months. It was also a record rainfall for the date (and the first rain on this date in 12 years).
12 - The 0.39" of rain that fell today between 1-10 PM was the first rain on this date in 21 years.
26 - The morning was a very soggy one as heavy rain amounted to 2.34", most of which fell between 2-9 AM. This was a record rainfall for the date.
OCTOBER
14 - The mildest low of the month was 58°, which happened today and on three previous days (all since 10/9). This was the last year the mildest low in October failed to reach 60° or milder (thru 2018).
21 -Although it was an inconsequential amount, the 0.01" of rain that fell during lunchtime was the first rain on this date in 12 years.
25 - Mostly light rain fell between 4-9 PM but then 0.62" fell in the hour between 9-10 PM.
28 - Two inches of rain fell, with the greatest amount (0.87") falling between 10 AM and noon. Besides the rain it was also unseasonably chilly, with a high of only 47° and a low of 39°.
NOVEMBER
4 - With a high of 63° this was the mildest presidential Election Day since the election of 1956 when the temperature rose to 64° (when president Eisenhower was re-elected). However, today's temperature was just five degrees milder than average.
22 - Today's high of 32° was the earliest date for a freezing high temperature in the past 40 years (and bested 1989 by one day).
23 - This was the sixth day in a row with temperatures 10 degrees or more below average. It was also the sixth consecutive day in which the low temperature was at freezing or below, matching November streaks of similar length in 1997 and 2000 (the lengthiest in the 1962-2013 period). The average high/low of 37°/26° during this cold snap was 14 degrees colder than normal.
DECEMBER
9 - In a 36-hour period the temperature jumped from 19° yesterday morning to 58° this evening as warm air streamed in.
11 - An all-day rain that continued overnight into the next day dumped 2.35" today and 3.28" overall. Most of it fell after 6 PM.
15 - Today's high temperature of 67° was a record for the date, 21 degrees above average. It was one of seven days between Dec. 9 and 28 with a high of 57° or warmer (three days were 65+). This was also the third year in a row in which 0.01" of precipitation fell on this date.
16 - Overnight the temperature plummeted from 62° at 11 PM to 37° by daybreak. After a raw and gray day an inch of snow fell during the evening, the first measurable snowfall of the season.
19 - Four inches of wet snow fell (an additional 0.5" fell overnight). This would be the biggest snowfall of the winter until March 1-2 when 8.3" fell.
22 - A high of 27°/low of 13° made this the coldest day of the month. Two days later the temp would jump into the upper 50s.
28 - Today's high of 65° was a record for the date, 25 degrees above average.
31 - This morning's low of 18° was the coldest on this date in ten years.
To read highlights from other years between 1970 and 2023 double click here.
Comments