Today in New York Weather History: December 9
1902
It was a bitterly cold day, with a high/low of only 17°/8°, which was 25 degrees colder than average.
1914
For the fourth day in a row the high was 36°. And three of the four days had lows of 30°.
1982
Five days after a high of 72°, the temperature took a nosedive to 19° by midnight tonight.
1986
The first snowfall of the season, amounting to 0.6", fell in the wee hours of the morning. However, the snow changed over to rain as the temperature rose throughout the day, from 32° to 51° by midnight. In total, 0.87" of precipitation was measured. This was the only snowfall of the month.
2002
Today's mean temperature of 24.5° (high of 30°/low of 19°) was the coldest of a very mild year.
2005
9.3" of snow fell over the past six days, and today's 5.8" of wet snow that fell this morning was a record for the date.
2006
This morning's low was 24°, making this the sixth consecutive day with a below-freezing low temperature - and it would be the last such day this month. As a result, this December tied 1984 for the fewest number of days in December with minimum temperatures of freezing or colder. (However, this record would be shattered nine years later when December 2015 had no such days.) The next low below 32° wouldn't occur until Jan. 9.
2008
Warm air streamed into the area, resulting in the temperature jumping from 19° yesterday morning to 58° this evening.
2010
Today's high of 30° made this the first day of the winter completely below freezing (about a week-and-a-half earlier than what's typical).
2014
A strong nor'easter lashed the City, beginning a few hours before daybreak and continuing thru mid-afternoon. It produced 2.54" of rain, a record for the date; winds gusted between 30-40 mph (and 45-55 mph on Long Island). This storm brought to mind the intense nor'easter of Dec. 11, 1992 (which also produced a record amount of rain for the date). However, today's wasn't quite as fierce or disruptive. (To read about other nor'easters that have made their mark on NYC, double click here.)
2016
The season's first 32° reading was reached this evening, three weeks later than average, and the fifth latest date on record. (Six of the occurrences on Dec. 1 or later have been since 2001.) Today, with a high/low of 39°/29°, was also the first day in two weeks with a colder than average mean temperature.
2017
The first measurable snowfall of the season accumulated 4.6" between 10 AM and 11 PM. It was the biggest first snowfall since 2012 when 4.7" fell on Nov. 6-7. Once the snow began the temperature hovered between 31° and 32° for the rest of the day. And although Nov. 11 had a colder mean temperature (high/low of 38°/24°), today's high of 35° was the coldest since March 15.
yet another example of inconsistency, according to the NOAA online weather data climatological website, their report of the high/low on 12/9/2016 was 39°/29° but most other websites i've visited do indeed say 40°/30°.
Posted by: William | 06/14/2017 at 06:16 PM
Regarding your 2006 statement, wouldn't 2015 take the top #1 position for the fewest number of days in December with minimum temperatures of freezing or colder since December 2015 had zero of these such cold days?
Posted by: William | 06/14/2017 at 06:24 PM
Perhaps some of the discrepancies are due to citing preliminary statistics and not checking the following month to compare them to the "official" numbers (I'm guilty of that). In this instance, I've changed my high/low from 40/30 to 39/29, since the official monthly recap shows 39/29. (I scratch my head when temperatures and precipitation totals are revised - does someone at the weather station not know how to read a thermometer or rain gauge?)
Posted by: Rob | 06/15/2017 at 07:38 PM
Yes, the statement about December 2006 and 1984 having the fewest lows of 32 degrees or colder became inaccurate when the crazy-mild December of 2015 had no such days - it has been amended. It can be a challenge catching outdated statements about record-setting occurrences, so thanks for pointing it out.
Posted by: Rob | 06/16/2017 at 12:55 AM