Looking Back at New York Weather: July 31
1925 (Friday)
The biggest rainstorm of the year produced 2.14" of rain, much of which fell between 6-11 PM, when 1.41" was measured. The rain and clouds kept the temperature in the upper 60s all day.
1927 (Sunday)
Today's low of 70° was the last low in the 70s of the year, and the earliest date for this occurrence on record - a record that still stands. (The last 70-degree low typically occurs in the first week of September.) The year had nine days with lows of 70+, which was well below the average of 28 days.
1939 (Monday)
This July and the previous two all had the same average temperature - 76.6°. However, 1937 had eight days with highs of 90+ (two in the triple digits), 1938 had three, and this year had four. Also, this July had just 0.99" of rain (at the time the fourth driest July) while the previous two had more than five inches.
1950 (Monday)
Today's high of 94° was the the last reading in the 90s this year, the earliest date for this occurrence since 1903, when it fell on 7/30 (1934 and 1904 also had their last 90 on 7/31). In total, there were only six 90-degree days this summer.
1954 (Saturday)
This was the second day this summer with a high of 100° (the other occurrence was on 7/14). Today, however, had the warmest mean temperature of the year as its low was 77°, compared to 69° on 7/14.
1985 (Wednesday)
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).
1992 (Friday)
0.24" of rain fell in a five-minute period ending at 6 PM.
1993 (Saturday)
Today had the month's 20th high of 90°+, the most of any month. (The average number for July is eight.) July's average high was 90°, five-and-a-half degrees hotter than average. Despite this record number of hot days, five Julys have been hotter, and their number of 90+ readings ranged between 14 and 18.
1994 (Sunday)
Today was the twenty-fifth day this month with a high of 85° or warmer (average number is 15). Since then two other years had 25 (2011, 2022) and two others had 26 (2010 and 2016).
1996 (Wednesday)
Between 10-11 AM, 0.56" of rain poured down (and 1.01" fell for the entire day). Additionally, the final twelve days of July were all cooler than average, with temperatures six degrees below the norm.
1998 (Friday)
The 0.33" of rain that fell this morning brought the month's paltry total to 1.09", making it one of the ten driest Julys on record. 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.)
2000 (Monday)
One year after the hottest July on record, this July was the coolest since 1914, four degrees below average.
2003 (Thursday)
This was the first of twelve consecutive days in which measurable rain fell. 0.12" fell today, beginning at 10 PM. During this streak (which lasted through Aug. 11) 5.57" of rain would fall.
2010 (Saturday)
Today was the seventeenth day in a row with a high temperature of 85° or hotter, the fourth longest streak of its kind since 1980 (the summers of 1988 and 1995 each had streaks of twenty-four days; and 2012 would have one of twenty-one days). The average high during this streak was 90°, five degrees above average. Additionally, 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 (joining Aug. 17-20, 1906 and March 3-6, 1952).
2012 (Tuesday)
At one point this month, it appeared it had a good chance at becoming the hottest July on record, as temperatures were 5.4 degrees above average thru July 18. However, the rest of the month was 1.8 degrees cooler than average and the month ended up tied as New York's 18th hottest (since 1869).
2016 (Sunday)
For the third time in this final week of July an inch or more of rain fell. Much of today's 1.08" (0.77") fell in a five-minute period between 8:39 and 8:44 PM - the greatest five-minute total in the years since 1970. Today's rain brought July's total to 7.02", making it the rainiest month since April 2014. And it was also the wettest July since 2009 (when 7.11" fell).
2020 (Friday)
A new record for July was established this morning when the day's low temperature of 70° was the 26th day this month with a low of 70° or warmer, breaking the previous record from ten years ago. However, for a while the record seemed like it might be in jeopardy when the temperature dropped from 74° to 70° during heavy rain showers late tonight.
2022 (Sunday)
July 2022 joined July 1944 and August 2015 as the only three months on record in which no day had a high cooler than 80° (later joined by July 2024). The '"coolest" reading this month was 81° on 7/18 and 7/26. On average, July has six days with highs below 80°.
This streak of 80°+ days began on 6/29 (and today would be the last day of the streak, which was the 12th longest on record). A big difference between this July and July 1944 is that July 1944 had seven more days with highs of 90+, while July 2022 had seven more days with lows in the 70s.
also in 2020, LaGuardia airport set a new July record for the most number of 90° days with nineteen. this beat the old July record from 2010 by one day. today’s high of 84° broke a six day heat wave.
Posted by: William | 08/01/2020 at 07:25 PM