Today in New York Weather History: New Year's Day (January 1)
1869 (Friday)
The year had a very snowy start, with nine inches piling up - a record for the date that, amazingly, still stands.
1877 (Monday)
The year started with a snowstorm that dumped 13.0" on the City (4.8" this afternoon and evening, 8.2" on the 2nd). This amount was more than the five snowfalls in December 1876, that totaled slightly more than twelve inches. Both days of the snowstorm had highs of 24°.
1888 (Sunday)
The first day of the year was quite rainy with 2.05" measured in Central Park. This was the first year (since record keeping began in 1869) to have rainfall of an inch or more on New Year's Day, and it's the record for the date. (Six other years have since had an inch or more on 1/1, the most recent being in 2007.)
1893 (Sunday)
1.32" of rain fell, which was 0.02" more than what fell in all of December. Last year, 1892's first rainfall of an inch or more occurred on Jan. 2 (1.02" was measured). Today's high of 52° would be the mildest reading of the month.
1899 (Sunday)
The year started snowy and quite cold as three inches fell between 2-8:00 in the morning, and the temperature fell slowly thru the day, dropping from 18° to 8°. Breezy conditions (gusts of 15-20 mph) created wind chills in the zero to -5° range.
1902 (Wednesday)
The morning low of 13° was the winter's coldest reading. (However, the winter's coldest mean temperature, with a high/low of 20°/14°, would be on Feb. 5.)
1919 (Wednesday)
Today's high of 61° was 51 degrees warmer than New Year's Day 1918. This was a record high that prevailed until 1966, when the high reached 62°.
1923 (Monday)
The 1.68" of rain that fell between 5 AM-1 PM made this the second rainiest New Year's Day after 1888 (which had 2.05"). The day's high of 53° would be the mildest reading of the month, and came just two days after December's coldest reading (12°).
1933 (Sunday)
The low of 13° was 49 degrees colder than the reading at 9:30 AM the day before. Despite the month's cold start (high/low of 28°/13°), this would be the third mildest January on record (following last January, which was the mildest).
1935 (Tuesday)
Morning rain (that started out briefly as snow, with an accumulation of 0.8") amounted to 1.09", making this the fourth year to have an inch or more of precipitation on New Year's Day. Ironically, despite the wet start, 1935 would be, at the time, the second driest year on record, with just 33.85" measured (it's now ranked fourth).
1936 (Wednesday)
The temperature rose above freezing at around 11:30 AM for the first time since 1 PM on 12/20, on its way to a high of 38°.
1945 (Monday)
The year began on a mild note, with a high of 55°, but after today there would be no high warmer than 43° for the rest of the month (and no milder than today's high until Feb. 27).
1966 (Saturday)
The year began very mild with a high/low of 62°/52°, 23 degrees above average. Today's high was a record for the date and wouldn't be topped for another 11 weeks (3/18). Overcast skies kept the temperature from rising even higher.
1968 (Monday)
It was a bone-chilling first day of the year as the temperature fell from 32° just after midnight to 11° twenty-four hours later.
1971 (Friday)
Old Man Winter waited until New Year's Eve revelers were home before dumping the winter's biggest snowfall. 6.4" accumulated between 4 AM and 4 PM (much of it falling in the storm's initial three hours). This was the 20th century's biggest New Year's Day snowfall (and second all-time after the nine-inch snowstorm way back in 1869).
1973 (Monday)
Under overcast skies, morning temperatures ranged between 58° and 60° before slowly dropping beginning early in the afternoon.
1977 (Saturday)
For the sixth day in a row the high temperature was 32° or colder. The average high during these days was 26°, fourteen degrees below average. This morning's low was 15°, the coldest reading on New Year's Day since 1968.
1978 (Sunday)
An inch of snow fell during the evening hours - the last time there's been an accumulation of an inch or more on New Year's Day (thru 2024).
1982 (Friday)
It was a wet first day of the year as an inch of rain fell through mid-afternoon.
1987 (Thursday)
A half-inch of snow fell, the most snow to fall on New Year's Day since 1978 (when there was a one-inch accumulation). However, the snow was short lived, changing to rain as the temperature rose to 38°.
1998 (Thursday)
The morning low of 14° was the coldest reading of the winter. Today was also one of just two days this winter with a high temperature at or below freezing (the other day would be March 12). A typical winter has 17 such days.
1999 (Friday)
The year began with a teeth-chattering morning low of 11°, the coldest reading on New Year's Day since 1968. This was the third year in a row that started with temperatures that were quite cold.
2003 (Wednesday)
The year began on a rainy note as 1.52" fell, making this the rainiest New Year's Day since 1923. The rest of January would be very dry, so today's rain accounted for two-thirds of the month's total precipitation.
2005 (Saturday)
Today's afternoon high of 60° was the mildest since New Year's Day 1979 and 1973, and two degrees shy of the record high set in 1966. It also marked the start of a very mild first half of January in which temperatures averaged 11 degrees above the norm.
2007 (Monday)
A very rainy day, with 1.52" measured; much of it fell between 6-9 AM. Interestingly, the previous time it rained on New Year's Day, in 2003, the same amount of rain fell. Today was also very mild, with a high of 56°/low of 45° (18 degrees above average).
2008 (Tuesday)
Rain fell for the seventh day in a row, totaling 1.66" during these days. Today's amount was 0.17".
2009 (Thursday)
The year got off to a bone-chilling start, with a high/low of 26°/15°.
2011 (Saturday)
A high of 53°/low of 40° made this the mildest day of January, fourteen degrees above average. The day began sunny but gave way to overcast skies in the afternoon.
2012 (Sunday)
This was the 17th day in a row in which every high temperature was different (since Dec. 16). Highs ranged between 31° and 62° (today's was 52°).
2018 (Monday)
The morning low of 7° was the coldest reading on New Year's Day in 100 years (when it was -4° in 1918). Today was also the seventh day in a row with a high of 32° or colder (the first streak of this length since Feb. 2014), and the sixth consecutive day with a high of 25° or colder (the first time since Jan. 1981).
2019 (Tuesday)
Very similar to one hundred years ago, today's high of 58°, which occurred in the morning, was 39 degrees warmer than New Year's Day 2018, whereas 1919's high of 61° was 51 degrees warmer than New Year's Day 1918. Today was the mildest reading on Jan. 1 since 2005.
2020 (Wednesday)
It was a raw and overcast first day of the year, with the mercury mostly stuck at a seasonably cold 38° during the daylight hours. This was similar to two days ago, except that day had rain.
2022 (Saturday)
It was a rainy and mild start to the new year, with a high/low of 56°/50°, and 0.79" of rain (most of which fell after dark). This was the first low of 50° or milder on 1/1 since 1979, and just the third time overall with a low in the 50s on this date. The high of 56° was the tenth warmest reading (tied with 2007). After a record dry November and December, today was the rainiest day since late in October.
2023 (Sunday)
Temperatures were nearly as mild as a year ago (high/low of 55°/49°) but this year differed in that it featured sunny skies.
Hi Rob. Happy New Year! I always enjoy this one. So many of these I remember. Thanks for the blog all year and best to you in 2017.
--Ken
Posted by: Ken K. in NJ | 01/01/2017 at 10:55 PM
also in 2019, another thing that occurred in the morning was 0.06" of precipitation. this was the sixth time since 2000 that precipitation fell on this date and none of them produced any measurable snow. two of the six years were 2010 (0.03") and 2012 (0.05").
Posted by: William | 01/02/2019 at 07:09 PM