Today in New York Weather History: December 14

 

1909

Today's high of 53°, which occurred shortly after midnight, would be the last high in the 50s until Feb. 27. 

1922

Today's 3.2" snowfall, from late morning thru the afternoon, was the first of ten snowfalls of three inches or more this winter, a winter that would become, at the time, the snowiest on record, with 60.4".  (It's now ranked fourth.)

 

1953

This was the ninth day of the past eleven with temperatures ten degrees or more above average (including seven in a row between Dec. 4-10).  It was also a wet period, with rain falling on eight of the days, totaling 4.25", which accounted for almost all of the month's precipitation.  Today was the rainiest, with 1.46" falling during the morning from a nor'easter that moved in yesterday afternoon (dropping 0.42").  Wind gusts of 35-40 mph were reported. 

1981

The winter's first snowfall of an inch or more came during late afternoon, but after 1.4" accumulated, the snow changed to a steady rain as the temperature rose to 37° by midnight.  In total, 1.02" of precipitation was measured.

1996

On a rainy day (0.89" fell thru mid-afternoon), today's high and low were just one degree apart (40°/39°).  This was just the tenth time a day had a one-degree variance since record keeping began in 1869.  (Through November 2021 this is the last time it occurred.)

2003

5.8" of heavy snow fell between 8 AM and 2 PM before changing to a wind-blown rain as the temperature rose into the low-40s.  Total precipitation from the storm was 1.59".  Today's snow (a record for the date) brought the month's total to 19.8", the most in December since 1948 when 25.3" fell.  However, four weeks would pass before the next snowfall (0.5" on Jan. 12).    

 

2005

Today's high/low of 24°/14° made this the coldest day of the entire winter, a winter that was on the mild side (especially January, which was 8.8 degrees above average).  This was the earliest date for the coldest day of winter since the winter of 1988-89, when it arrived on Dec. 12.  Today's mean temperature was nineteen degrees colder than average.

2010

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

2013

It was a snowy day, with five inches on the ground when the snow changed over to freezing rain around 9 PM, and to plain rain by midnight.  The transition occurred as the temperature rose from 22° at 8:30 PM (the day's low) to 34° shortly before midnight (day's high).  This storm was somewhat similar to the one on this date 10 years earlier.

 

2015

The day after a record high and a record mild low were set (67°/55°), today's high/low of 67°/53° tied the records for the date.  After foggy/overcast conditions during the daylight hours, there was a period of heavy rain between 7-8 PM (amounting to 0.33").  Temperatures then rose, with the record-tying high temperature occurring shortly before midnight.  Today, and the previous two days, were 23 degrees above average.

2019

The rainstorm that moved in yesterday at mid-afternoon continued overnight and ended around 8 AM today.  1.96" of rain was measured (0.81" yesterday, 1.15" this morning), bringing the month's precipitation over five inches (5.04"), making this just the third December to have more than five inches in the first two weeks of the month (1983 and 1996 were the other two years).

 

 2021

On a day with clear skies and above average temperatures (high/low of 53°/44°), the humidity level dropped to 20% at around 5 PM - the lowest level reported in December this century.  The previous low point in December was 21% in December 2006.

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Comments

[William]

2021 - while no precipitation fell today, the total amount of precipitation that fell so far this month was 0.67”. this was the driest first two weeks of any December since 2006 (when 0.44” of precipitation fell) and this was the ninth driest first two weeks of any December since 1950.

[William]

when was the last time (before December 2021) any day at all had a humidity level that was 20% or lower?

[Rob]

During the afternoon of May 12, 2020 the humidity dropped to 15%.

[Rob]

Correction, the last time with a lower humidity reading was this year - 7% on April 6.

[William]

the 2010 entry is incorrect. the last time (before 2010) a season’s first measurable snow was 0.1” was actually in the winter of 2005, when 0.1” of snow fell on December 19, 2004.

[Rob]

The observation I made is correct, since a first snowfall isn't confined to one date, and the winter of 2004-05's began late on 12/19, accumulating 0.1", and continued into the early hours of 12/20, when an additional 0.5" was measured, bringing the total to 0.6".