Today in New York Weather History: December 28
1901
Today and the previous five days had very similar, slightly above average high temperatures: 42°-43°-43°-42°-43°-44° (today).
1908
The highs and lows of Dec. 26-28 were very similar: 40°/35°, 40°/34° and 40°/35° (today). And temperatures on Dec. 25 and 29 were somewhat similar as well (42°/36° and 43°/35°).
1917
Beginning today and continuing through Jan. 4 record lows were set on seven of the eight days - and all of them are still standing. (Only 1/3, with a low of zero, didn't set a record.)
1940
Today's high of 49° followed a high of 50° yesterday and a high of 51° on 12/26. Conversely, low temperatures had a pattern in the opposite direction, with a high of 43° today, 42° on 12/27 and 41° two days ago. All of these readings were well above average.
1952
Today's high/low of 30°/12° made this the coldest day of the entire winter. And there would be just one more day this winter with a sub-freezing high (on Feb. 2).
1961
The 0.35" of rain that fell this morning was the last day measurable precipitation fell this month, and brought the month's total to 3.04" - the same amount as last December.
1964
The year's last measurable precipitation fell just after midnight. The year's total of 32.99", ten inches below average, made this the driest year on record (the previous driest year was 1910). The record, however, lasted just one year as 1965 would be even drier, with just 26.09" measured in Central Park.
1968
Today's high of 56° (reached after dark) would be the last reading in the 50s (or warmer) until March 16.
1980
The 0.1" of sleet that fell overnight was the last measurable precipitation of the month (and year). At just 0.58", this was the second driest December on record (behind Dec. 1955).
1983
Three days after a morning low of 4° above zero today's high temperature rose to 55°.
1988
After a nine-day period from Dec. 10-18 when temperatures averaged nearly 11 degrees colder than normal, temperatures rebounded and the next nine days (today was the last) were eight degrees milder than average.
1990
Today's 7.2" snowfall (which began late last night) was the first snowfall of the winter, the largest accumulation in nearly four years (since January 1987), and the biggest December snowfall since 1960. Snow ended shortly before 11 AM.
2008
Today's high of 65° was a record for the date, and 25 degrees above average.
2010
I was visiting my mother in Pittsburgh for Christmas, which was unaffected by the East Coast blizzard of 12/26-27. However, I felt its impact today, the day I was scheduled to fly back to New York, as most flights were still cancelled; 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).
2014
Today was the sixth day in a row in which the mean temperature was 10 degrees or more above average, the longest such streak since one of eight days in March 2012. Today's high/low of 54°/43° (under mostly overcast skies) was also the average high/low of the past six days. These six days were 14 degrees milder than average.
2017
Today's high/low of 18°/11° made this the coldest day of the year (topping Jan. 9, which had a high/low of 23°/14°) and the coldest day in nearly two years - since Feb. 14, 2016, which had a frigid high/low of 15°/-1°.
2018
A steady rain that fell mostly during the daylight hours measured 1.15", bringing December's total precipitation over five inches, the eighth month this year with five+ inches - the most on record for any year. This was the third rainstorm of an inch or more since 12/16. Besides the rain, today was also unseasonably mild, with a high of 60° (quite a contrast from a year ago).
2017's high of 18° also made this the coldest December day since the bitterly cold 1989 when the high was also 18° on 12/22.
Posted by: William | 12/28/2017 at 07:58 PM
A great observation! And although only one day in December since 1970 has had a colder high than today's (13 degrees, on Dec. 25, 1983), fifteen days have had colder lows.
Posted by: Rob | 12/28/2017 at 11:58 PM
Not only it was the first high in the teens in December since 1989, but also the first time that the high was in the teens but the low wasn't colder than 10° since February 9th, 1994 and the first time in December that there was a day that the high was in the teens but the low wasn't colder than 10° since 1939, when it occurred one day earlier.
Posted by: Benny R. | 01/25/2018 at 11:38 PM
Today was 157th day of rain in Central Park shattering the record of 152 days in 1996. Also we have had 11 consecutive months of 10+ days of precipitation (most since 1919/1920), and 11 consecutive months of 11+ days of precipitation extending record broken last month.
Posted by: Biebs | 12/28/2018 at 10:27 PM
2018 experienced another unprecedented occurrence, fifty days with a half inch or more of precipitation. February (six days, tied with 1869), August (eight days, tied with 2011) and November (seven days, tied with 1889 and 1972), in particular, set new records for their respective months. the previous annual record for the most days with this much precip was forty-seven set in 2003.
Posted by: William | 12/29/2018 at 11:53 PM
typically, a calendar month (regardless of which one) has two or three days with at least a half inch of precipitation, and a calendar year has two to three dozen such days.
Posted by: William | 12/30/2018 at 12:02 AM