Today in New York Weather History: September 1
1910 (Thursday)
After today's rainfall of 1.20", only 0.22" would fall for the rest of the month (and none from 9/10 thru the first week of October) - but September's rainfall would be more than what fell for the entirety of August (1.07"). Today's rain was associated with what was left of the season's first tropical storm.
1927 (Thursday)
The year's biggest rainstorm dumped 3.84", mostly between 11 AM-9 PM. After this storm, the next 30 days would see just 0.43" of rain (followed by an 18-day period between 10/3-20 with nine inches). Today's rainfall was a record for the date (later broken in 2021 by more than three inches).
1975 (Monday)
With winds out of the northeast, it was a cool Labor Day, with a high/low of just 69°/55°, ten degrees below average. This was the coolest Labor Day in the 1970-2024 period (based on mean temperature). The one saving grace was that skies were sunny.
1980 (Monday)
After a stifling morning low of 76°, the high topped out at 95°, making this the hottest Labor Day since 1973 (when the high reached 96°).
1983 (Thursday)
Although "meteorological summer" (June 1 - Aug. 31) ended yesterday, Mother Nature paid no mind as the mercury soared to a steamy 95°.
2003 (Monday)
For the second year in a row the temperature never got out of the 60s on Labor Day. And like the previous year, rain fell, but not nearly as much as in 2002 (0.59", compared to last year's 1.63").
2010 (Wednesday)
September began just as August ended, 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.)
2012 (Saturday)
Today was the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, and the high of 90° was the first reading in the 90s to occur during the holiday weekend since 1998. This was also the nineteenth, and last, 90-degree reading of the year (the average number is eighteen).
2014 (Monday)
It was a very sultry Labor Day, and the high/low of 88°/75° (nine degrees above average) made it the warmest Labor Day since 1983 (based on mean temperature), when it was 91°/73°.
2017 (Friday)
This morning's low of 55° was the first reading below 60° since 6/9, and was the chilliest reading on this date since 1975. And with a high of 71°, the day's mean temperature of 63° was the coolest on 9/1 since 2002, when the high/low was 65°/59° (a mean of 62°).
2021 (Wednesday)
Although Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in Louisiana four days earlier as a category 4 storm, had weakened to a tropical depression, its remaining energy merged with an approaching cold front. This resulted in New York being flooded by extreme rainfall and lashed by tropical storm-force winds (causing greater disruptions than tropical storm Henri did less than two weeks ago).
After a first round of moisture brought light showers shortly after sunrise, there was a lull until 5 PM when heavy rain moved in, becoming torrential a few hours later. By midnight, 7.13" had been measured in Central Park, making this the rainiest Wednesday on record, comparable to seven weeks worth of rain, and two-and-a-half inches more than a typical September sees in its entirety.
At its most intense, between 9-10 PM, more than three inches poured down. Because of this excessive rate of rainfall, the National Weather Service, for the first time, issued a Flash Flood Emergency for NYC, and subway service was suspended throughout the City. Shockingly, the City suffered 13 flood-related fatalities. Unlike Henri, which wasn’t a wind producer, Ida’s visit was accompanied by winds that gusted between 35-50 mph.
Between Aug. 21 (when Henri moved in) and today, 15.99" of rain was measured in Central Park. And between June 30 and today, 29.19" fell - which is 20 inches more than the amount that typically falls during this nine-week period.
2022 (Thursday)
In a complete reversal from last year, skies were clear and the humidity in mid-afternoon dropped to 22%, which was just the fourth time this century that the humidity level in September was at or below 25%. It was also a warm day, with a high of 86°, which was warmer than the warmest reading of the past two Septembers (both at 85°).
no month has ever began with a rain storm that was as big as how September 2021 began. 7.13" of rain fell on this date in 2021, making this the fifth wettest day on record (and the wettest day since April 15, 2007, when 7.57” of rain fell). before this, the wettest day at the beginning of a month was on October first of 1913, when 4.98" of rain fell.
Posted by: William | 09/02/2021 at 12:24 PM
The rather turbulent summer of 2021 culminated with two hurricanes smashing New York. August 21, 2021, (Henri) is now the sixteenth rainiest day on record. September 1, 2021, (Ida) is the fifth rainiest day on record. September 2021’s first day had more rain than the first day of any other month (the previous credit went to October 1913). This brings to mind how April 30, 2014, had more rain than the last day of any other month. In my fifteen years here, I thought Ida was worse than Hurricane Irene in 2011 and the remnants of the tornadic storm in late April 2014.
This year now has two months in which a major weather event occurred on the first day: February’s big snowstorm and September’s heavy rain. I find this interesting because the first day of most months is usually uneventful.
Posted by: Henry | 09/02/2021 at 12:26 PM
2021 - even though just 0.50” of additional rain fell in the two weeks after today, the 7.63” of rain that fell made this the third wettest first half of September ever, behind 1944 (9.40”) and 1933 (9.59”). interestingly, just three years earlier, November 2018 had 7.62” of rain for the month’s entirety.
Posted by: William | 09/19/2021 at 08:20 PM