Looking Back at New York Weather: May 15

 

1964 (Friday)

Today and the previous two days were the only days with measurable rain this month, which became the third driest May on record (0.57" was measured). 

 

2004 (Saturday)

After a sultry high of 87° (sixteen degrees above average), the day ended with heavy rain between 9 PM and midnight that amounted to 1.16".  Although it wasn't a tremendous amount, it set a record for the date, breaking 1898's record by 0.02".

 

 

2018 (Tuesday)

The afternoon was very warm and humid, with a high of 88°, and ended turbulently as a quick-moving line of severe thunderstorms struck as the evening rush hour was beginning.  This caused long delays for train commuters waiting at Grand Central Station and widespread cancellations for air travelers, like me (trying to return from Pittsburgh).  In a little more than two hours, 0.58" of rain poured down. Wind gusts of 55, 54 and 53 mph were clocked at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports; by contrast, Central Park was protected and a had a peak gust of only 30 mph.

 

 

 

 

 

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Today in New York Weather History: May 13

 

1990 (Sunday)

During an afternoon downpour on Mother's Day, 0.52" of rain came down in a twenty-minute period between 4:12-4:32 PM. 

 

2005 (Friday)

For the third day in a row the high was an unseasonably warm 86°, seventeen degrees above average.  

 

2010 (Thursday)

After the month started with six days that were 14 degrees warmer than average (high/low of 82°/64°), the past five days were 11 degrees below average (57°/43°), with morning lows in the 41°-44° range.

 

2012 (Sunday)

This was one of the warmest Mother's Days in a while as the afternoon high topped out at 81°, eleven degrees above average.  It was also the warmest day in four weeks, and the tenth year in a row in which no rain fell on this date.

 

 

2017 (Saturday)

The day was dreary, raw and windy, with a steady, all-day rain that amounted to 1.61" (just 0.05" less than the date's record).  Morning and afternoon temperatures hovered around 50,° and then fell into the 40s during the evening.

 

2018 (Sunday)

It was a cool and dismal Mother's Day, with light showers, drizzle and fog throughout the day (which amounted to just 0.10").  The high of 54° was the coolest reading on the holiday in eight years, and there was just a two-degree difference between the day's high and low.

 

2019 (Monday)

Rainy and unusually chilly as temperatures stayed in the 40s for the entire day, continuing a streak of hours with sub-50° readings that began at dawn yesterday; today's high/low of 48°/42° was seventeen degrees below average (the low was the chilliest in May in six years).  The 0.70" of rain that fell today (much of it during the afternoon/early evening) followed 1.32" that fell yesterday from a nor'easter.

 

 

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Today in New York Weather History: Mother's Day Weather Highlights

 

 

 

1914 (May 10)

The first Mother's Day to be observed as a national holiday was a beauty, with sunny skies and a high of 77°.

 

1924 (May 11)

With a high/low of 49°/44°, this is the only Mother's Day in which temperatures never got out of the 40s.  It was a breezy day, with late afternoon showers (0.25" was measured).

 

1961 (May 14)

It was a delightful day with a high of 83° under partly cloudy skies.

 

1969 (May 11)

This was the fourth Mother's Day in a row with a high in the low-to-mid 60s and a low around 50°.  Each year also had some measurable rain.

 

1970 (May 10)

Today's high was 93°, making this the hottest Mother's Day on record. This came three days after a low of 38°.

 

1975 (May 11)

Today's high/low of 72°/53° (slightly above average) was identical to last year's Mother's Day.  One big difference between the two is that no rain fell this year while 0.53" fell during the evening of Mother's Day 1974.

 

1977 (May 8)

A year after the chilliest reading on Mother's Day in the years since 1960 (42°) an even colder reading occurred, but it didn't happen until after 10 PM when an Arctic front moved through and dropped the temperature to 38° by midnight.  Earlier in the day the high had reached a slightly below average 64° under clear skies.    

 

1978 (May 14)

The biggest rainstorm of the year dumped 3.58" of rain thru 3 AM on 5/15.  It came down heaviest between 10:30 AM and 4:00 PM when 2.53" fell.  The 3.38" that fell today was a record for the date, and the most to fall on any Mother's Day.

 

1987 (May 10)

With a high of 90°, this was the second hottest Mother's Day on record (a 30-degree rebound from the morning low).  This was 20 degrees above normal.  However, because the humidity was low the heat wasn't too uncomfortable.  

 

1991 (May 12)

Mostly sunny and quite warm, with a high of 89°.

 

1993 (May 9)

Bright sunshine, low humidity, and a light breeze from out of the west/southwest propelled the temperature from 55° to 89°.  

 

1996 (May 12)

A strong cold front moved through last night and the temperature this afternoon was only in the upper 50s - after being in the mid-80s on Saturday.

 

1998 (May 10)

A truly miserable day as a steady all-day rain amounted to nearly two inches.  The high was only 58°.  During the four-day period between May 8-11, 4.32" of rain fell.

 

2000 (May 14)

Today's high/low of 73°/56°, a few degrees above average, was the same as Mother's Day last year.

 

 

2010 (May 9)

A very chilly day with a high of only 52°, seventeen degrees below average.  The morning low of 44° was the chilliest reading on Mother's Day since 1977.  (Until 2019 when the low was 43°.)

 

2011 (May 8)

It was a pretty day with a high of 74°, five degrees milder than average.  Bright sunshine in the morning gave way to a mix of sun and puffy cumulus clouds during the afternoon.     

 

2012 (May 13)

This was one of the warmest Mother's Days in a while as the afternoon high topped out at 81°, eleven degrees above average, under partly cloudy skies.  Today's high was the warmest in four weeks. 

 

2014 (May 11)

Today's high topped that of Mother's Day 2012 by one degree, making it the warmest since 1993. 

 

2015 (May 10)

Partly cloudy and on the humid side.  The high of 83° was one degree warmer than last year's Mother's Day.

 

2016 (May 8)

After having highs of 70° or warmer during the previous five Mother's Days (four of which were in the 74°-83° range), today's fell back to a more seasonable 65°, which made it the chilliest MD since 2010 (when the high was only 52°).  However, after a period of rain around daybreak the sun broke through late in the morning and the afternoon was nice and sunny, breaking a week-long streak of overcast skies.

 

2018 (May 13)

It was a dismal holiday, with light showers, drizzle and fog throughout the day (but just 0.10" was measured).  The high of 54° was the coolest reading in eight years on the holiday, and there was just a two-degree difference between the day's high and low.

2019 (May 12)

A nor'easter brought a cold, all-day rain.  Temperatures fell through the day, from the upper 50s just after midnight to the 40s by daybreak, where they stayed for the rest of the day (bottoming out at 43° as midnight approached).  This was just the second Mother's Day to have temperatures in the 40s for the entire afternoon (the other, in 1924, had temperatures in the 40s for the entire day).  1.32" of rain was measured, the fifth time an inch or more of rain fell on Mother's Day (and one of those dates, in 1946, was also 5/12). 

 

2020 (May 10)

For the third year in a row Mother's Day had well below average temperatures.  This year, the low of 39° was the chilliest reading on Mother's Day since 1977 (low of 38°).  However, unlike the previous two years skies were sunny and the temperature rose to 64°.  Although this was five degrees cooler than average, last year's afternoon temperatures were only in the mid-40s, and the year before that they were in the mid-50s. 

 

2023 (May 14)

With a high/low of 74°/59° (four degrees above average) this was the mildest Mother's Day in eight years when the high/low was 83°/61° (eleven degrees above average).

 

2024 (May 12)

After a morning of light showers and drizzle (0.15" was measured), the afternoon was mostly overcast.  Temperatures were unseasonably cool, with a high/low of 57°/48°, nine degrees chillier than average.

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Today in New York Weather History: May 11

 

1888 (Friday)

Of all of the dates that have had the temperature stuck in the 60s, this is the earliest in the year it has occurred (the latest date is 11/21).  The  high/low was 67°/62° and an all-day rain soaked Central Park with 1.63", which was a record for the date (until 1981). 

 

1913 (Sunday)

One week after back-to-back highs of 89° (both were records until 2001), yesterday's and today's lows were in the 30s.  Today's low of 36° was a record that still stands.

 

1924 (Sunday)

With a high/low of 49°/44°, this is the only Mother's Day in which temperatures never got out of the 40s.  (Mother's Day 2019 would have daytime temperatures in the 40s but before sunrise temperatures were in the 50s.)  It was a breezy day, with late afternoon showers (0.25" was measured).

 

1975 (Sunday)

Today was Mother's Day and its high/low of 72°/53° (slightly above average) was identical to last year's.  One big difference was that no rain fell this year, while 0.53" fell during the evening of  Mother's Day 1974.

 

1981 (Monday)

Rain fell for much of the day, amounting to 1.67" - a record for the date.  It came down heaviest between 7-9 PM, when 0.70" poured down. 

 

 

1993 (Tuesday)

After a morning low of 57,° the mercury climbed rapidly and topped out at 92°, a record for the date.  This was the year's first of thirty-nine 90-degree days (tying 1991 for the most on record).

 

1998 (Monday)

4.32" of rain fell between May 8-11, the typical amount of rain for the entire month of May.  Today's rainfall totaled 0.68".

 

 

1999 (Tuesday)

For the past seven days low temperatures were between 54° and 56° degrees, a few degrees milder than average.  Highs, however, were more variable, ranging between 58° and 73°.

 

2013 (Saturday)

A strong thunderstorm during mid-afternoon dumped 0.87" of rain between 3-4 PM.  Earlier in the day, the morning low of 61° was the first 60-degree low of the year; this was eight degrees milder than average.

 

2014 (Sunday)

Today's high of 82° topped that of Mother's Day 2012 by one degree, making it the warmest since 1993 (Mother's Day 2015 would top this by one degree).

 

 

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Today in New York Weather History: May 9

 

1942 (Saturday)

On a raw and damp day (drizzle fell between 10 AM and 3 PM), just one degree separated the day's high (51°) and low (50°).  Although the high was 17 degrees below average, the low was at the average.  Normal diurnal variation in May is 18 degrees.

 

 

1970 (Saturday)

The year's first high in the 90s occurred today, just two days after a morning low of 38°.  This came three weeks earlier than the average date for New York's first reading in the 90s.

 

1972 (Tuesday)

The day was rainy (1.19" fell) and very chilly, with a high/low of only 49°/46°.  The high was 20 degrees colder than average. 

 

1977 (Monday)

It was a gray, damp and downright cold day, which felt more like early March.  The high/low was only 44°/36°, twenty degrees below average (the high was 25 degrees colder than average, and 40 degrees colder than the high of three days ago).  This also became the latest date on record for a trace of snow to fall.  This would be the last time a temperature in the 30s was reported this late in May until 2020 (when a low in the 30s also occurred on this date).

 

 

1979 (Wednesday)

Today's high reached 94°, twenty-five degrees above average.  This was the year's first reading in the 90s, and it was a record for the date.

 

 

1988 (Monday)

The 0.01" of rain that fell between 9-10 PM was the first measurable rain on this date in ten years.

 

1993 (Sunday)

Bright sunshine and low humidity propelled the temperature from 55° to 89° on Mother's Day. 

 

1998 (Saturday)

It was a dreary, rainy Mother's Day weekend as 1.42" of rain fell today (Saturday); and 1.94" would fall tomorrow.

 

 

 

2000 (Tuesday)

Today's high was 91°, the third day in a row with temperatures in the 90s.  This would be the longest heat wave of the year, and after today there would be only four more 90-degree days.

 

2009 (Saturday)

Rain fell for the eighth day of the past nine.  4.43" was measured during this damp beginning to May, but then only 0.74" would fall for the rest of the month.  

 

2010 (Sunday)

It was a very chilly Mother's Day, with a high of only 52°, eighteen degrees below average.  The morning low of 44° was the chilliest temperature on Mother's Day in the years between 1980-2018 (in 2019 the low would be 43°).

 

2016 (Monday)

For the first time since 4/23 the temperature rose into the 70s.  And with a high/low of 72°/53°, today ended a thirteen-day streak with below average temperatures.  During these days the average high/low was 59°/47°, which was five degrees below average (the high was eight below average, while the low was just three below average).

 

2020 (Saturday)

This morning's low of 34° (with a wind chill in the mid-20s) was a record for the date and Central Park's coldest reading in May since 1891.  And snow flurries that fell before daybreak tied May 9, 1977 as the latest date for a trace of snow.  This morning's reading was two degrees colder than April's coldest reading.

 

2022 (Monday)

It was a day with very low humidity, which bottomed out at 13% at 1o PM -  the lowest humidity reported for this time of day in the years since 2000 (daily humidity is usually lowest in mid-afternoon).  Additionally, this was the seventh day this year with humidity falling to 15% or below, which is the greatest number of days going back to 2000 (breaking a tie with 2021).  Furthermore, this was the lowest humidity reported in May.  Finally, humidity of 15% between midnight and 2AM on 5/10 was the lowest humidity reported so early in the day. 

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Today in New York Weather History: May 5

 

1940 (Sunday)

Today's high of 71° was the year's first reading of 70° or warmer, coming about six weeks later than usual, and the first 70-degree reading since 10/26.  The year's first 80-degree reading would come two days later (two weeks later than usual).

 

1965 (Wednesday)

The day after the high reached 90° (23 degrees above average) today's was only 62° (five below average).

 

1980 (Monday)

After a low of 57° the high jumped to 90°, a record for the date.  This was the first 90-degree day of the year, about three weeks earlier than average; thirty-one more would follow (most of them in July and August).

 

 

1988 (Thursday)

0.83" of rain fell in the three hours between 4-7 PM.  For the entire day, 1.11" was measured.

 

1993 (Wednesday)

For the third day in a row the high temperature was 69°, slightly above average for the first week of May. 

 

1998 (Tuesday)

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.

 

2007 (Saturday)

This was the fifth day in a row in which the morning low was 50° or 51°, which was close to the average for the first week of May.

 

2009 (Tuesday)

Gray and drizzly conditions persisted for a fifth day in a row, keeping the temperature from rising very much; the high was 54° (fourteen degrees below average), just slightly above the morning low of 51°. 

 

 

2010 (Wednesday)

This was the fifth day in a row with highs in the summer-like 80s (average high in the first week of May is in the upper 60s).  This streak was book-ended by highs of 78° on 4/30 and 5/6.

 

2017 (Friday)

Torrential rain poured down in the middle of the day, with 2.72" falling between 11 AM and 2 PM.  Overall, 3.02" fell during the course of the day, easily breaking the old record for the date (1922's 1.24").  This was the biggest rainfall in three years (since 4.97" fell on April 30, 2014), and the fifth greatest daily rainfall in May (tied with May 8, 2013).

 

 

2019 (Sunday)

It was a rainy and chilly day, with 1.31" measured and PM temperatures stuck in the chilly low 50s (most of the rain fell in the morning and after dark).  This was the tenth day of the past eleven with measurable rain, a period in which 2.67" of rain fell (today, the rainiest of these days, accounted for nearly half of the total).  It was also the twenty-second day of the past thirty-one with measurable rain (today was the rainiest of these days).

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A Look Back at New York Weather: May 4

 

1899 (Thursday)

Today had the season's last reading in the 40s (the low of 48° was seasonable for the date) - the earliest date on record for this occurrence (which still stands).  In the 19th century, the average date of this occurrence was 5/28 (in the 21st century, the date is ten days earlier).

 

 

1972 (Thursday)

The 0.11" of rain that fell in the morning hours was the first measurable rain on this date in 14 years.

 

1987 (Monday)

It was showery and unseasonably chilly, with a high of just 48° (nineteen degrees below average) after a low of 44°.  The 0.41" of rain that fell (most of it between noon and 11 PM) made this the rainiest day of a dry month (1.45" fell in total). 

 

1993 (Tuesday)

Low temperatures of the past four days were: 54°-53°-52°-51° (today), all slightly above average.

 

2001 (Friday)

This was the third day in a row of 90-degree heat and the fourth day in a row with a record high.  This somewhat mirrored an early-May spell of hot conditions the previous year between May 5-9.

 

 

2002 (Saturday)

Today was the fourteenth day in a row with below-average temperatures (five degrees below average).  This was in stark contrast to mid-April's heat wave in which seven days had temperatures that averaged 23 degrees above normal.

 

2018 (Friday)

Today's low of 72° was a record-warm reading for the date (twenty-two degrees above average - and four degrees above the day's average high).  This was also the fourth day in a row with highs of 80° or warmer (today's was 84°), the longest such streak since one of seven days in late September 2017.

 

 

2019 (Saturday)

Today's slightly above average high of 71° came one year after a low of 72° on the same date.

 

 

 

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Today in New York Weather History: May 3

 

1983 (Tuesday)

A week-long warm spell had temperatures that averaged 12 degrees warmer than average.  However, today's high of 79° would turn out to be the mildest reading of the month - not very warm for that distinction.  In fact, the last time the warmest reading in May was cooler than 80° was more than 30 years ago.  (It would be repeated in 2003 and 2005.)

 

2001 (Thursday)

With a high of 90°, today was the third day in a row with a record high.  (And tomorrow would be the fourth in a row, when the high reached 92°, the hottest of the four days).

 

2010 (Monday)

1.29" of rain fell between midnight and 8 AM, with more than half of it coming down between 3:30-4:30, when 0.67" fell.

 

 

2012 (Thursday)

An overnight thunderstorm dumped 0.43" of rain between 1-2 AM.

 

2016 (Tuesday)

The 0.61" of rain that fell today, mostly before daybreak, made this the rainiest day in ten weeks (since 1.21" fell on 2/24).

 

2018 (Thursday)

After yesterday's high of 90° tied the record from 2001, today's high of 92°, twenty-four degrees above average, broke the previous record - also from 2001. 

 

2020 (Sunday)

Two days after a 16-day streak with below average temperatures ended, and the day after New York had its first reading in the 70s since March 20, today had the year's first reading in the 80s (80°).  This was the first year since 2014 to have its first 80 in May rather than in April (average date of the first 80°+ reading is 4/22).

 

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Looking Back at New York Weather History: May 2

 

2001 (Wednesday)

Today's high reached a record 90°, the first 90-degree day since last year on Aug. 9.  This was the earliest first-90 in ten years.  (The first such reading typically occurs at the end of May.)

 

 

2009 (Saturday)

The 0.11" of rain that fell between 3-5 AM made this the sixth year out of the past seven in which some measurable rain fell on this date (and in nine out of the past twelve years). 

 

2010 (Sunday)

It was unseasonably warm, with a high/low of 88°/66°, nineteen degrees above average.  Today's high was the hottest since April 7, when the high reached 92° (the earliest 90-degree reading on record).

 

2012 (Wednesday)

The day was gray and raw, with just three degrees separating the high and morning low (53° and 50°).  The low was average for the date, but the high was 14 degrees below the norm.

 

 

2018 (Wednesday)

It was a clear, dry, and hot day, with a record-tying high of 90°.  This was the first reading in the 90s of the year, the earliest date for it since 2010 (when it happened on 4/7, the earliest on record).  Only 11 years (going back to 1869) have had an earlier date for their first reading in the 90s.  Like yesterday, today's humidity was very low, especially during the afternoon when it dropped to 13% (it bottomed out at 12% yesterday).  As a result, the "feels-like" temperature was somewhat cooler than the air temperature, in the mid-80s.

 

 

2020 (Friday)

Usually a high of 73° in early May doesn't warrant attention, but this year it did because this was the first reading in the 70s in more than six weeks (since 3/20).   Save

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New York Weather Highlights of 2010

 

 

JANUARY 

30 - With a high/low of 20°/13°, today was the coldest day of the winter.

 

FEBRUARY

6 - It was a very frustrating day for New York snow lovers as a crippling snowstorm that dumped 20"-30" in Pittsburgh, DC, Baltimore and Philly stopped at our doorstep, bringing just a few flurries to Central Park.  (Even Staten Island picked up three to five inches.)  The culprit was a strong high pressure system over New England that blocked the storm from moving up the coast.  (Despite escaping this storm, Feb. 2010 would become New York's snowiest month on record, with 36.9".)

10 - Four days after a monster snowstorm stopped short of New York's doorstep, another made its presence known today and dumped ten inches of heavy, wet snow.  Because the daytime temperature was just above freezing (the high was 34°) main streets didn't get much in the way of accumulation. 

21 - Today's high of 46° was one of the lowest readings to be the mildest temperature of a winter month.  Despite this chilly mildest reading the coldest reading of the month of 17° wasn't overly frigid.

23 - A cold rain fell throughout the day, totaling 1.20".  Just three degrees separated the day's high/low (38°/35°).  The rain continued until daybreak on the 24th, adding 0.42".

25-26 - After starting in the morning as steady rain, a changeover to snow occurred in the afternoon and developed into New York's third major snowstorm of the winter.  9.4" had fallen by midnight and an additional 11.4" fell the morning of the 26th.  The total precipitation on the 25th amounted to two inches, just two days after 1.42" fell.  The storm's snowfall of 20.9" made this the fourth largest accumulation in NYC history (now ranked fifth) - and just 0.1" shy of the total from the great blizzard of March 1888.  With this storm February's total snowfall reached 36.9", the most ever in any month.    This ended up being the last snowfall of the winter. 

 

MARCH  

13 - On the anniversary of the 1993 March Superstorm, another ferocious nor'easter dumped close to four inches of rain and was accompanied by 50-75 mph wind gusts.  The rainfall was the most in a 24-hour period in March since 1875.  Six persons were killed in the metro area by fallen trees and hundreds of thousands of homes were left without power.

21 - Today, with a high of 64°, was the sixth day in a row with a high that was twelve degrees or more milder than average.  The average high during these days was 68°, seventeen degrees above average.  (Yesterday was the warmest of these days, with a high of 74°.)

27 - The morning low of 29° was the month's coldest reading.  This was the mildest minimum temperature for the month of March since 1973, when the month's lowest temperature was 30°.  Today's low came three weeks after the only other day this month with a low of 32° or colder.  (March 2023's and 2024's coldest reading would also be 29°).

30 - The second strong nor'easter in little more than two weeks buffeted the area.  Like the previous one, this storm produced more than four inches of rain.  Beginning late on 3/28 (when 0.34" fell), it continued through this afternoon.  After 1.58" of rain yesterday, an additional 2.45" fell today (a record for the date, breaking the previous record from the nor'easter of 2001).  With today's rainfall the month's total precipitation reached 10.68", making it the wettest March on record.   

 

APRIL

5 - It was a fine spring day for the Mets home opener as the temperature rose into the mid-70s, eighteen degrees above average - the warmest weather for a home opener in nine years.

7 - The afternoon high was 92°, an incredibly hot temperature for so early in the season.  In fact, it was New York's earliest 90-degree reading on record, besting the previous record from 1991 by one day.  This temperature was 34 degrees above average - even in mid-July today's high would have been five degrees hotter than normal.  At 11 PM it was still 80°.  The next 90-degree reading would be seven weeks later, when the high reached 92° on May 26.  

15 - Temperatures in the first half of April were twelve degrees above average, but then the second half of the month would see temperatures closer to normal.  (Average high during the first half of the month was 72° while the second half's average was 63°.)

25 - After just 0.61" of rain fell in the first twenty-four days of the month, 1.60" poured down today.  The rain came from two storm systems.  The first brought the bulk of the rain in the AM hours (1.13"), the second moved in after dark.

 

MAY

May 2 - It was unseasonably warm, with a high/low of 88°/66°, nineteen degrees above average.  Today's high was the warmest since April 7, when the high reached 92°.

May 5 - This was the fifth day in a row with a high in the summer-like 80s (average high during the first week of May is in the upper 60s).  This streak was book-ended by highs of 78° on 4/30 and 5/6.

May 9 - A very chilly day with a high of only 52°, seventeen degrees below average.  The morning low of 44° was the chilliest reading on Mother's Day in the 1980-2018 period (Mother's Day 2019 had a low of 43°).

May 26 - Under clear skies the temperature soared to 92°, making this the hottest day of the month.  At 11 PM it was still 85°.  And the full moon was shining beautifully. 

May 29-31 - For the third year in a row no rain fell on any day of the three-day Memorial Day weekend.  High temperatures were warmer each day: 77° on Saturday; 84° on Sunday; 86° on Monday.

 

JUNE

5 - This morning's low was a sultry 76°, sixteen degrees above average.  The afternoon high hit 88°.

6 - Today was the eighth day in a row in which afternoon temperatures rose into the mid-to-upper 80s (but no 90s).  These readings were ten degrees above average.

9 - 0.89" of rain fell, beginning early in the afternoon and continuing until a little past 11 PM, breaking a three-week dry spell in which only 0.11" of rain fell.

17 - This was the fifth morning in a row with a low temperature of either 64° or 65° (a few degrees above average).  Today and 6/13's low of 65° book-ended three days with lows of 64°.

24 - Today's high of 92° was the first 90-degree day in a month.  Thirty-three more 90-degree days would occur in the next ten weeks.

27 - It was a hot and sticky Gay Pride Day, with a high of 91°.  And for the seventh of the past eight days the morning low was 71°.  (For more weather highlights from past Gay Pride Days, click here.)  

28 - Today's high/low of 93°/76° made this the hottest day of the month.

29 - This was the tenth day in a row in which the high temperature was 87° or hotter (including four days in the 90s).  All told, half of the days this month were 87°+, helping to make this the warmest June since 1994.  (And a record hot July would follow.) 

 

JULY 

4 - Today's high of 96° tied 2002 and 1999 as the hottest July 4th since I moved to New York in 1979.  It was also the first of sixteen 90-degree days this month, which occurred in a 24-day period between July 4-27.

6 - For the first time since 2001, a triple-digit temperature was reached in Central Park.  Today's high of 103° was the hottest reading since Aug. 9, 2001. 

7 - This was the second day in a row with record-setting triple-digit heat as the mercury climbed to 100°.

23 - This was the ninth year in a row that rain fell on this date; this year 0.70" was measured in Central Park.  And almost all of today's rain fell in a brief period of time as a thunderstorm shortly before 8 PM dumped 0.34" of rain in just five minutes time and 0.60" in 15 minutes.  During the evening the dew point was in the very uncomfortable mid-70s.

25 - Today was the 22nd day in a row with a low of 70° or warmer, tying another such streak in the summer of 1980 as the longest in the years since 1970 (thru 2023).  This summer's streak included nine days with lows of 75°+ and three of 80°+.

29 - Today's low of 74° was the 25th low of 70° or warmer this month, the most of any July (breaking a tie with 1999 and 1908) and the most of any month on record.  These lows were all concentrated in the 26 days between 7/4 and today.  (A typical July in the past 40 years averaged 14 lows in the 70s/80s.)

31 - Today was the second day in a row with a high/low of 85°/66°, and followed another pair of days with the same high/low on July 28-29 (89°/74°).  This was just the third time for back-to-back pairs with the same highs/lows (Aug. 17-20, 1906 and March 3-6, 1952). 

 

AUGUST 

19 - Today was the thirtieth 90-degree day this year, the seventh year in the past thirty with this many hot days.  And there would be seven more 90+ readings in the next three weeks. 

22 - It was dreary and humid with a number of heavy downpours during the afternoon and evening that amounted to 1.69".  (Half of the rain came down in a 90-minute period from 7-8:30 PM). This was the rainiest day since the end of March.  

25 - For the third day of the past four, at least an inch of rain fell; 1.00" fell today, 1.02" on the 23rd and 1.69" the day before that.  Today's fell mostly in the morning.  The amount that fell during these days, 3.71", accounted for 90% of the month's total rainfall.

31 - Today's high of 96° was a fitting way to end New York's hottest summer on record, topping the previous hottest summer, in 1966, by 0.5 degrees.  (Note, this is "meteorological" summer, which is June 1 thru Aug. 31.)

 

SEPTEMBER

1 - September began like August ended, i.e., with a high 96° after a low of 76°.  (To read an analysis about back-to-back days with the same high and low, click here.)

2 - Today was the fifth day in a row of 90-degree temperatures and the 36th such day this year - thirty of them occurring since July 1.  The morning low was a steamy 78° (fourteen degrees above average), tying 9/6/85 and 9/11/83 for the warmest low temperature in September in the 1980-2023 period.

3 - Hurricane Earl brought only overcast skies and muggy conditions to the New York area but it lashed the eastern end of Long Island.  Then, as a downgraded tropical storm, it made a direct hit on Cape Cod.

8 - Today was the 37th, and last, day of the year with a high temperature in the 90s - two fewer than 1991's and 1993's record number. 

12 - Scattered showers produced 0.15" of rain, breaking a 17-day dry spell. 

13 - This was the third day in a row with a morning low of 59°. 

16 - A violent and fast-moving storm ripped through the City during evening rush hour.  While Manhattan was largely spared (0.46" of rain fell), parts of Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens were hit by tornadic winds.  I was meeting a friend for dinner and made it to the subway at West 4th St. just as the storm was approaching.  By the time I arrived in Midtown fifteen minutes later, the worst of it was over.  Not until we had finished dinner and walked to Penn Station did we learn of the severity of the storm, as all service on the Long Island Railroad had been shut down for the night.  

25 - Today, with a high/low of 89°/67°, and the previous three days, averaged 11 degrees warmer than the norm.  This was also the twelfth day this year with a high of 89°, the most on record.

27 - 1.33" rain fell throughout the day, exceeding what fell in the previous four weeks.  One year earlier 1.03" fell on this date.

28 - After a sultry morning low of 70° (fourteen degrees above average), the temperature rose only three more degrees the rest of the day.  This was the 55th day this year with a low of 70°+, which is 50% above average and the second greatest number in the years since 1970 (the year with the most, 2005, had 60). 

30 - 0.75" of rain fell in a 45-minute period just before daybreak (6-6:45 AM).  Overall, 1.10" fell during the morning.  This followed a rainstorm on 9/27-28 that dropped 1.66".  These two rain events accounted for 75% of September's rainfall.

 

OCTOBER 

1- This was the second day in a row with heavy downpours.  One between 5-5:30 AM dumped 1.24". (By coincidence 0.75" fell almost 24 hours earlier between 6-6:45 AM.)  In total 2.46" of rain fell today, and 5.22" over the past five days.  This was the fourth time this year that had back-to-back days with an inch or more of rain, tying 1989 for the most such instances in a year.

11 - 1.13" of rain fell today, the fourth time in the past nine years more than an inch of rain fell on this date.  It was mostly and evening rainfall, with 0.77" falling between 7:00 and 8:00.  The day's high of 75° was the mildest reading of the month (also reached on 10/27).

27 - After a very mild morning low of 65° (nineteen degrees above average), the afternoon temperature hit a balmy 75°, tying 10/11 as the warmest reading of the month.  Showers fell in the pre-dawn hours and in the middle of the afternoon, amounting to 0.19" - the fifth year in a row that rain fell on this date.

 

DECEMBER 

9 - Today's high of 30° made this the first day of the winter completely below freezing (about a week-and-a-half earlier than normal).

14 - It was a biting cold day, one of the coldest of the entire year, with a high/low of just 23°/19°.  The first snowfall of the winter, just 0.1", fell shortly after midnight.  The last time we had a first snowfall so unsubstantial was ten years earlier.    

22 - The past six days had three pairs of days with the same high temperatures, with each pair warming by one degree: 36°-36°-37°-37°-38°-38° (today).  And today and yesterday had the same high as well as low (38°/28°), making this the tenth pair with the same high/low this year, tying 1931 for the most in one year.

25 - It was calm and cold (high 32°/low 25°) the day before a blizzard moved up the coast, a storm that seemed to come out of nowhere.   

26-27 - Snow began falling during the afternoon of the 26th and by evening blizzard conditions had developed.  When the flakes stopped flying the following morning, 20 inches had piled up.  The City was largely unprepared for a storm of this great a magnitude (and mayor Bloomberg was on vacation at an undisclosed location).  This was New York's sixth biggest snowstorm in its history.  And it was the second 20-inch accumulation of the year - the only year to have that distinction (the first was on Feb. 25-26 when 20.9" fell). 

Although yesterday's 12.2" of snow wasn't a record for the date (the blizzard shared the date with New York's great 1947 snowstorm), today's 7.8" was.  The blizzard's bull's-eye was west of New York where most towns in New Jersey were buried by more than two feet of snow (e.g., Newark measured 24.2").  This was also the 103rd, and last, day of precipitation for the year, tying 1965 for the fewest days in the years since 1950.  The average number of such days is 122.

28 - I was visiting my mother in Pittsburgh for Christmas, which was unaffected by the blizzard in the Mid-Atlantic.  However, I felt its impact today, when I was scheduled to fly back to New York, as most flights were still cancelled and mine was no exception.  However, Jet Blue chartered a luxury bus to JFK Airport.  The trip took eight hours but at least I got back home on the day I was supposed to (albeit at 1 AM).

 

 

To read highlights from other years between 1970 and 2023 double click here. 

 

 

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