Today in New York Weather History: September 17

 

1869 (Friday)

Showers (0.73" was measured) and clouds kept the day's rise in temperature very minimal, as the high and low were just one degree apart (66°/65°).

 

1876 (Sunday)

Heavy rain from a minimal hurricane that raced inland through North Carolina and Virginia produced 3.37" of rain in Central Park (a record for the date that still stands).

 

1915 (Friday)

This was the last day of a four-day heat wave, the second year in a row that had one in the second half of September - the only time this has happened.  The highs during these four days were 90°-91°-93°-91°.

 

 

1965 (Friday)

For the third year of the past four, temperatures were stuck in the 60s on this date (68°/61° this year, 65°/60° in 1963, and 69°/63° in 1962).  Sept. 17 is also the date with the most instances of temperatures stuck in the 60s (eight through 1965, and one more in 1981).

 

1972 (Sunday)

This was the last day this year with a high in the 90s, as the high reached a record 92° (broken nineteen years later).  This was about three weeks later than the usual date of the last 90-degree day.  In total, there were fourteen days with highs in the 90s this year, five below average (1930 -1971 period). 

 

1980 (Wednesday)

Heavy rain between 11 PM-midnight amounted to 0.85", nearly half of the month's total rainfall.  (The time of the rain was actually midnight-1 AM on the 18th, but the National Weather Service doesn't recognize Daylight Saving Time and uses Standard Time year-round.)

 

1991 (Tuesday)

Today's high of 93°, 17 degrees above average, was the record-setting 39th 90-degree day of the year (tied two years later).  This was more than double the average number of hot days New York usually experiences (18).  Today's high was also a record for the date.

 

 

1995 (Sunday)

Today's 1.11" rainfall was the first significant rain since July 28, a 50-day period in which only 0.28" fell.   

 

1996 (Tuesday)

2.04" of rain fell, the second year in a row with more than an inch of rain on this date.  Although rain fell throughout the day, it came down heaviest between 9-10 PM, when 0.54" poured down.     

 

2013 (Tuesday)

It was a chilly day under clear skies, with temperatures more typical of mid-October.  The morning low of 50° (eleven degrees below average) was the chilliest reading this early in September in six years and came just six days after a scorching high of 96°.  

 

2015 (Thursday)

Under sunny skies the temperature rose into the upper 80s, the 109th day this year with a high of 80° or warmer - a new record (and there would be five more days to come).  The previous record was set back in 1944.

 

 

2016 (Saturday)

This morning's low of 59° was the first reading cooler than 60° since June 14, making this the second longest period on record without any lows in the 50s (94 days, compared to 103 days in the summer of 1996).

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Comments

[William]

2016 - with a low of 59°, today was the first day this month with a reading below 60°. the last time September's first reading in the 50s was this late in the month was on this same date in 1947 when the low was 58°.

[Rob]

Hi William,
Actually, there were two years between 1947 and 2016 that had later dates for their first lows in the 50s in September - in 1971 it occurred on 9/22 and in 2004 it occurred on 9/18. You may also be interested to know that the longest period of days without a low in the 50s occurred in 1996, when there were 102 days between 6/3 and 9/14. Ironically, 1996 was a cooler than average summer. (2016 had the second longest stretch without any lows in the 50s, 94 days).