Today in New York Weather History: May 19
1962 (Saturday)
The high temperature soared to 99°, making this the hottest reading ever recorded in the month of May. (The temperature jumped 41 degrees in ten hours after the day's low at 6 AM.) May's previous hottest temperature was 96°, which occurred in three years - 1880, 1939 and 1941. Some relief arrived between 8-9 PM when a thundershower moved through, dropping the temperature from 87° to 70°.
1975 (Monday)
Seven of the eight days since 5/12 had morning lows of 58° or 59°, five degrees above average. The one "outlier" had a low of 60°.
1976 (Wednesday)
It was a raw and chilly day, more like March 19 than May 19, with a high/low of only 52°/38°. This was eighteen degrees below average. Morning showers made the day feel even colder.
1994 (Thursday)
A raw and damp day, with a high of only 54°, eighteen degrees below average. The last time there was a high temperature this chilly was on April 12 (when the high of 54° was just five degrees below average).
1997 (Monday)
Today was the only day of the month that warmed into the 80s (the high was 83°), the fewest number of 80-degree days since May 1983, which had none. (2003 and 2005 would also have no days in the 80s.) This lack of 80-degree temperatures contributed to making this the chilliest May in thirty years.
2005 (Thursday)
Today was the second consecutive day with a high/low of 70°/53°, replicating a pair of 70°/53° highs/lows on May 18-19, 1932.
2017 (Friday)
Today's high of 91° was the third day in a row with a high in the 90s - the first time for a three-day heat wave in May since 2001 (and the 34th year, since 1869, to begin its 90-degree readings with a heat wave). Cooler air moved in after 8 PM and by midnight the temperature had fallen to 66°. (It would then be three weeks before a temperature of 80° or warmer was reached.)
2023 (Friday)
Today was the last day of a 14-day streak with sunny or clear skies. Temperatures were 2.5 degrees above average during this streak. Embedded in this two-week period was a 12-day streak in which humidity during the afternoon dropped to 25% or lower.
May 1962 was a month of big temperature swings. in addition to the hottest May reading, 1962 tied 1917 as having the most number of highs below 50° (3) of any May on record.
Posted by: William | 02/08/2018 at 03:24 PM
2014 - Today's low of 49° was the month's coldest reading. this tied 2012 and 1982 as the warmest reading on record to have this distinction in May. In 2012, the reading of 49° occurred on May 11, and in 1982, the reading of 49° occurred one day later. Today had the warmest high temperature of the three days: 72° this year, 68° in 2012 and 64° in 1982.
Posted by: William | 09/04/2018 at 08:24 AM
Since that record 99 degree day in 1962, it appears a high hotter than the previous May record of 96 degrees has been reached twice, in both cases 97 degrees, on May 29, 1969 and May 30, 1987.
Posted by: Harry | 05/19/2020 at 04:53 PM