Today in New York Weather History: March 20

 

1875

An ice storm on the first day of spring dropped 0.54" of liquid precipitation in temperatures that were below freezing all day (high/low was 31°/22°).

1958

An intense nor'easter brought winds of 35-45 mph along with heavy, wet snow that began shortly before daybreak and continued thru midday on the 21st.  4.7" fell today and 7.1" the following day.  However, today's temperature never got colder than 33°.  This storm buried parts of eastern and central Pennsylvania and upstate New York with 30 to 40 inches of snow.

 

1967

The temperature rose above freezing shortly before noon for the first time since late afternoon on March 15.  During the four full days when temperatures were at freezing or colder (3/16-3/19) the high/low averaged 27°/13°, twenty-one degrees below average.

 

1984

Today's high of 58° was the mildest reading of a cold March, the coldest since 1960.

1986

A vigorous cold front moved through, resulting in a plunge in temperature from 62° to 21°.

1993

This was the eleventh day in a row with a low temperature of 32° or colder (four of the days had lows in the teens).  The average low during these days was 23°, 12 degrees below average.

2012

Since 1970 the month of March has averaged 1.5 days with highs in the 70s.  Today's high of 73° was the sixth day this month to top 70° - the most for any March in the period (and two more would follow). 

 

2015

Spring may have begun at 6:45 PM but it was a day when winter reasserted itself as snow fell during the afternoon and evening, amounting to 4.5".  As the snow fell, the temperature dropped from the upper 30s to upper 20s.  Today's snowfall brought March's total to 18.6", making it the snowiest month of the winter (December had 1.0", January 15.3" and February 11.9") - and the snowiest March since 1956.  And with a total of 47 inches, this became the tenth snowiest winter since 1950.     

2020

After a foggy start the sun broke through during the afternoon and the temperature jumped from the mid-50s at noon to 77° shortly before 5:30 (26 degrees above average).  The day's 30-degree jump in temperature from the morning low of 47° at daybreak was the biggest rise in temperature since a 32-degree rise on May 2, 2018 (from 48° to 80°).  After today's warm-up, the City's next reading in the 70s wouldn't occur until May 2.

 

 

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Comments

[William]

regarding the entry for 2020, what’s the longest any year has gone from its third 70° day to its fourth 70° day (and where does 2020 rank into the mix)?

[Rob]

No, I haven't done an analysis about that particular type of hiatus.