New York Weather Highlights of 1985
JANUARY
2 - Today's high of 58° was the mildest reading of the month and the thirteenth day since Dec. 10 with a mean temperature 10 degrees or more above normal. During these three-and-a-half weeks temperatures were 11 degrees above average. And tomorrow would be the twenty-fifth day of the past twenty-six with above average readings.
9 - With a high of 25°/low of 16°, today was the first day of the winter that was completely below freezing. It was only the fifth time this century it occurred in January (it would happen five more time in the next 30 years). At the time only the winter of 1975 recorded a later date for the first high temperature of 32° or colder, which was Jan. 14. (Two years later, in 1987, that record was broken when the first such high occurred on Jan. 20.)
17 - For the fifth year in a row the high temperature on this date was 32° or colder. Also, 4.1" of snow fell during the morning, the biggest snowfall of the month.
21 - The morning low was 2° below zero and the high just 9° above zero, the coldest high temperature since Feb. 15, 1943 when it was +8°. Meanwhile, down in Washington ceremonies for President Reagan's second inauguration were forced indoors because of the bitter cold.
22 - Temperatures over the past two weeks (1/9-22) were eight degrees colder than normal, with an average high/low of 30°/18°.
FEBRUARY
2 - Light snow fell throughout the day and accumulated 4.3". It was the third snowfall over four inches so far this winter. One more would follow in a few days.
5 - The biggest snow of the winter began this evening and continued through next morning, accumulating 5.7". 3.3" of the snow fell tonight. After this snow just 0.2" fell for the rest of the winter.
11 - Today was the 35th day in a row with a low temperature of 32° or colder. This was the longest such streak since the winter of 1976-77 when there was one of 51 days between Dec. 21, 1976 and Feb. 9, 1977 (the longest streak in the past 50 years).
24 - Today's high of 75° broke the old record by 10 degrees and tied Feb. 25, 1930 for the warmest reading ever reported in February. This followed by two months a 70-degree day at the end of December (and one month after a sub-zero morning low).
25 - The incredibly mild high/low of 69°/49° averaged in the past four days was 24 degrees warmer than average - and more typical of late April.
MARCH
4 - On a gloomy and damp Monday, the last measurable snow of the winter fell briefly during lunchtime. However, after 0.2" accumulated, the snow changed over to rain.
27 - Today's high soared to 74°, twenty degrees above average, and the mildest temperature since - last month? Yes, it was 75° on Feb. 25!
28 - Today was even warmer than yesterday as the afternoon temperature topped out at 78°, twenty-four degrees warmer than average. However, this was not a record high as there was an even more extraordinary warm spell in 1945.
29 - The exceedingly mild weather continued for one more day. Despite the sun being filtered through a light overcast the temperature soared to 82°, twenty-eight degrees warmer than normal. Not only was it warm but also uncomfortably humid. However, just like yesterday today's temperature wasn't a record. The average high over the past three days was 78°, a reading more typical of the second week of June.
APRIL
16 - What a glorious day for baseball as the high reached 75° (fourteen degrees above average) and the Yankees beat the White Sox on a walk-off home run by Don Baylor in the bottom of the 9th inning.
19 - Today's high of 88° was a rebound of forty-three degrees from yesterday morning's low of 45°.
MAY
21 - Heavy rain fell between 4-10 PM, amounting to 1.60". During one 15-minute period (between 5:55-6:10 PM) 0.48" of rain thundered down.
28 - 0.54" of rain fell in 30 minutes between 4:41-5:11 PM. 0.93" fell during the entire evening.
JUNE
3 - Today's high of 85° was the warmest reading of the entire month, the coolest maximum temperature for June since 1916 when the warmest reading was 84°.
16 - It was Father's Day and rain fell overnight until 6 AM and then a thunderstorm moved through between 6-7 PM. In total 1.19" of rain fell, making this the rainiest Father's Day since 1972.
24 - During a severe thunderstorm 0.50" of rain poured down in a 15-minute period between 1:50-2:05 PM. By the time the rain moved out of the area, shortly before 5 PM, 0.89" had fallen.
JULY
3 - Today was the ninth consecutive day with cooler than average temperatures. During this stretch temperatures were eight degrees below normal (high/low of 73°/60°).
14 - Today's high of 92° was the first 90-degree reading of the summer, the second latest date on record for this occurrence. Only 1877 had a later date (July 26). This was also the third year in a row in which the high temperature topped 90° on this date.
26 - 1.19" of rain fell in the morning between 2-11 AM. Then after a dry afternoon/early evening an additional 0.99" fell after 7:30 PM, lasting until 4 AM.
28 - Today was the 13th day this month with a seasonable mean temperature (average of high/low), the second most of any month in the 1970-2015 period (one behind July 1975, and later tied in July 2006).
31 - The 0.06" of rain that fell between 4-7 PM brought the month's rainfall to 4.41", which was the same amount that was measured in June. This joined similar occurrences in May-June 1917 and Nov.-Dec. 1945 (later joined by Dec. 1980-Jan. 1981 and Sept.-Oct. 1997).
AUGUST
15 - The highest mean temperature (average of the high and low) of the summer was registered today as the high reached 95° after a sultry low of 80°. Today's low became the latest date for a low in the 80s (tied three years later, and then broken in 2018 on 8/29).
30 - It was the Friday of Labor Day weekend and a brief but vicious thunderstorm struck in the middle of the afternoon. I was walking home after seeing the movie Back to the Future on East 34th St. when the skies opened up. I sought refuge under the awning of an apartment building in Gramercy Park to escape the torrential downpour that was accompanied by hail and high winds, but it offered little protection so I retreated inside the lobby of the building.
The storm was very brief, about 15 minutes, but it was destructive as many trees in Washington Square Park suffered damage. It turned out the storm was very localized as areas north of 34th St. weren't hit nearly as hard (Central Park measured just 0.16" of rain). At the time this was the worst storm I'd experienced in my years living in New York.
SEPTEMBER
5 - Today had temperatures sixteen degrees above average with a high of 95° and low of 77°.
6 - Today's high of 93°/low of 78° was 15 degrees above average. This low is the warmest minimum temperature in September, and also occurred on Sept. 11, 1983 and Sept. 2, 2010. Today was also the last day this year with a high in the 90s. In total, only nine days saw 90+, the fewest since 1975 (the average is eighteen).
8 - Today was the end of a five-day stretch in which the temperature averaged 12 degrees above average - including three days in the 90s. The average high/low of these five days was 90°/75°.
13 - The morning low of 49° was the earliest date for a reading in the 40s since 1978 (when it occurred on Sept. 10).
27 - Hurricane Gloria made landfall on Long Island near the Nassau/Suffolk County border and dumped heavy rain in NYC during the morning (3.13", a record for the date); most of it fell between 9:30 AM-12:30 PM. The sky cleared around 1:00 and the rest of the afternoon was beautiful. The bountiful rain helped put a dent in the year's rainfall deficit. (To read my first-person account of the storm double click here.)
OCTOBER
15 - Today's high was an unseasonably warm 80°, fifteen degrees above average. This was the eighth month in a row to report a high in the 80s, joining 1945 as the only other year in which this occurred. (These two years would later be joined by 1990.)
NOVEMBER
5 - For the second year in a row heavy rain fell on this date - both times in the early morning. This year 1.63" of rain poured down during the wee hours and was over by 7 AM. 0.86" fell between 4-6 AM.
16 - 2.39" of rain fell, a record for the date. Most of it fell after noontime and it came down heaviest between 9-11 PM when 1.11" was measured.
20 - Today's high/low of 77°/62° was twenty-four degrees above average. Not surprisingly the high temperature was the warmest of the month and a record for the date. It followed by just four days the coldest reading of the month (33°).
28 - It was a raw and rainy Thanksgiving Day. The high/low was just 41°/37° and 1.15" of rain fell, mostly during the afternoon and evening. At the time it tied 1935 as the rainiest Turkey Day (which also fell on 11/28). This amount was later topped in 2006.
29 - It was a gray day with just two degrees separating the high (38°) and low (36°).
DECEMBER
5 - The first measurable snow of the season fell between 11 PM and 1 AM, accumulating 0.3" before changing to rain showers.
13 - A breeze from out of the northeast, low clouds and periods of drizzle kept the temperature from moving much as just two degree separated the high (40°) and low (38°).
19 - With a high of 30°, today was the first day of the winter with a maximum temperature of 32° or colder.
24 - Today's high of 55° was the mildest reading of the month.
25 - The temperature tumbled all day, from a high of 48° reached in the morning to a biting cold 20° by midnight.
To read highlights from other years between 1970 and 2023 double click here.
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