Today in New York Weather History: March 18

 

1885 (Wednesday)

Today's low of 8° was the 18th in the single digits or colder this winter, breaking a tie with the winter of 1872-73 for most on record (later passed by the winter of 1918, which had 20 of these frigid lows).

 

1892 (Friday)

Snow that began falling late last night continued through this morning and accumulated eight inches (the 7.2" that fell today is the most to fall on 3/18).  This was the biggest snowfall of the winter (passing a six-inch snowfall on 1/16) and came in the midst of an unseasonably cold 12-day stretch (March 11-22) in which temperatures were 12 degrees degrees below average (high/low of 34°/22°).

 

1905 (Saturday)

Today's high of 67° was the first reading above 50° in ten weeks, since Jan. 7.

 

1934 (Sunday)

After peaking at 71° in the early afternoon (the first 70-degree reading of the year), the temperature plummeted to 30° by midnight (and 22° by sunrise on the 19th).  When the cold front moved through the temperature dropped 19 degrees in less than an hour. This was one of the City's greatest drops in temperature (and came less than two months after a drop of 52 degrees in an 18-hour period on Jan. 29-30).  

 

 

1956 (Sunday)

Less than 48 hours after a snowfall of 6.7" an even bigger storm moved in during the afternoon.  By the time snow stopped falling 24 hours later, 11.6" of new snow was on the ground (3.8" of it fell today).  And today's high/low was just 30°/21°, seventeen degrees below average.

 

 

1962 (Sunday)

This was the end of a five-day period that started and ended with highs of 50° while the three days in the middle all had highs of 49°.

 

1967 (Saturday)

Hard to believe, but today's high/low was a frigid 20°/10°, twenty-seven degrees below average, and bitterly cold even by the standards of mid-winter.  Temperatures were last above freezing shortly before noon on 3/15 (and would stay below freezing for two more days).

 

1973 (Sunday)

0.2" of snow fell in the late morning, the last measurable snow of a winter that was the least snowy on record - just 2.8" fell from three snowfalls.  The previous record was 3.8" during the winter of 1918-19.  (However, an even less snowy winter would occur in 2022-23, when just 2.3" fell.)

 

1977 (Friday)

The last measurable snowfall of the winter, measuring 0.6", fell at daybreak before changing to rain.  In total, the winter had 24.5" of snow, which was slightly below average.  Still, it was the snowiest winter since 1969-70 (which had 25.6").  

 

1983 (Friday)

3.10" of rain fell, most of it coming down between 1:00 and  9:00 PM. 

 

1989 (Saturday)

The temperature nosedived by 40 degrees, from 77° to 37°.  The cold front that ushered in this sharply colder air produced a severe thunderstorm mid-afternoon that dumped 0.35" of rain in just ten minutes (between 3:14-3:24 PM).  There was also some hail, a rarity in New York, especially in March.

 

 

1990 (Sunday)

This was the last day of an extraordinarily mild eight days in which the mean temperature was 18 degrees above average (high/low of 71°/47°).

 

1993 (Thursday)

This morning's low of 13° was the coldest reading this month, twenty-two degrees colder than average.  The last time a temperature this cold occurred in March was in 1984.

 

1994 (Friday)

2.8" of snow fell during during the afternoon, the last measurable snowfall of the winter.  This brought the season's total snowfall to 53.2", making it the snowiest winter since 1960-61.  The day was also a cold one, with a high/low of just 33°/25°, fourteen degrees below average. 

 

  

 

2000 (Saturday)

The morning low of 22° came two days after a high of 65°.

 

2004 (Thursday)

A mixture of snow, sleet, and freezing rain during the morning accumulated just under an inch and was the final measurable ice/snow of the winter.  This was the second winter in a row with more than 40 inches, the first time for this occurrence since the winters of 1948 and 1949.

 

2011 (Friday)

Today's record-tying high of 77° was the warmest reading in nearly six months.

 

2012 (Sunday)

Morning clouds and fog cleared in the afternoon and the high reached 63°.  Although this was thirteen degrees warmer than average, it was one of the coolest readings in the Eastern two-thirds of the country as most areas basked in temperatures that were between 75° and 85°.

 

2013 (Monday)

A wintry mix of snow and sleet moved in during late afternoon, and by midnight three inches had accumulated.  It was the the final measurable snowfall of the winter, and the most snow to fall on this date in more than 50 years.  This was significantly more snow than had been forecast as a changeover to rain occurred much later than predicted.  Also, with a high/low of 35°/28°, this was the coldest day this month - eleven degrees below average.

 

2018 (Sunday)

The weekend featured clear skies and very low humidity.  Yesterday afternoon's was between 22% to 25% while today it was even lower, bottoming out at 15% during lunchtime.  Today was also the twelfth day in a row with below average temperatures.  

 

2021 (Thursday)

After one of the driest first halves of March on record (0.16" was measured), light rain began at around 9 AM and continued for the rest of the day, amounting to 0.60".  This was the first measurable precipitation since 3/1.   Temperatures were mostly stuck in the mid-40s.  

 

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Comments

[Jimmy Johnny]

But in 1977 wasn't there a trace of snow recorded on May 9th. Wouldn't that be considered the last snowfall of the season instead of March 18.

[Rob]

Yes, there was a trace on that date in 1977 but I was referring to "measurable" snow on 3/18, which means 0.1" or more. I've added that descriptor to make it clear. Thanks for your question!

[William]

1994's snow also made this the twentieth, and last, day of the calendar year with measurable snow. prior to '94, the last time there were this many days of measurable snow in a calendar year was in 1967 when there were 21. since '94, only 1996 has had at least twenty such days in the calendar year and only sixteen other years (besides '67, '94 and '96) on record have had at least twenty such days.

[William]

2022’s sixth day with a reading of 68° or warmer happened on this date. this was the most ever days in a year with a reading this warm through this date. this beat the previous record from 1990 by one day.

[Harry]

William, I know your about the 6th day with a reading of 68 or warmer is correct, but it says you posted regarding 3/18/22 on 3/15/22. Do you have a time machine or something LOL!