1973 Weather Highlights for New York
JANUARY
1 - Under overcast skies, morning temperatures ranged between 58° and 60° before slowly dropping beginning early in the afternoon.
29 - Rain changed to snow around daybreak and the 1.8" that accumulated was not only the first snow of the winter (the latest date on record, until the winter of 2023), but would be the largest accumulation of the entire winter. (Until 2022, this was the last time an inch or more of snow fell on this date.)
FEBRUARY
2 - Rain that began yesterday evening continued thru early evening today, coming down heavily between 9AM-5PM. The 2.98" that fell today (and 3.19" when yesterday's rainfall is included) was a record for the date, and the second highest amount for any day in February. The precipitation began as a cold rain, but by the time the rain subsided the temperature had risen into the upper 50s.
17 - Today's high/low of 22°/7° made this the coldest day of the year, eighteen degrees below average.
MARCH
17 - Today, with a high of 60°/low of 40°, was the seventeenth day in a row with above average temperatures. During this two-and-a-half week period, temperatures were nearly ten degrees above average. (At the time this March would be the fifth mildest on record; it's since fallen to 11th.)
18 - 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.
21 - The morning low of 30° was month's coldest reading, the mildest temperature for this distinction in the 1970-2015 period. (The typical coldest reading in March is in the upper teens.)
25 - Rain moved in late, with 0.20" falling between 10 PM and midnight - the first measurable precipitation on this date in 15 years. This rain was from a nor'easter that produced a hard rain overnight that was over by daybreak on the 26th (1.35" fell after midnight) .
APRIL
22 - With a high of 86°, today tied 1962 as New York's warmest Easter Sunday - which coincidentally also fell on 4/22. (Easter 1976 would later become the hottest - by a wide margin.)
MAY
28 - It was Memorial Day and 0.59" of rain fell during the morning. The afternoon remained overcast and the high reached 70°, five degrees below average.
30 - The 0.18" of rain that fell tonight between 11 PM and midnight made this the 19th day with measurable precipitation in May, tying December 1972 for the second greatest number of days in a month (the most days, 20, occurred in May 1888). However, despite this high number of days, the month's total rainfall (4.51") was average for May.
JUNE
9 - Today's high was 92°, the first 90-degree day of the year. It was also the first day of a four-day heat wave.
12 - Today was the fourth day in a row with a high in the 90s. The highs were: 92°, 91°, 95° and 93° (today).
AUGUST
2 - The 2.49" of rain that fell today, most of which poured down between 8-10AM, accounted for much of August's rainfall. Today's amount was a record for the date. After today, just 0.59" fell for the rest of the month. And although the day's low was a sultry 74°, the clouds and rain kept the temperature from rising no higher than 79°. This is the warmest low temperature to not have an accompanying high that was 80° or warmer (it also happened in August 1901 and July 2023).
8 - This was the fifth day in a row with a high of 88° or 89°.
28 - This was the first day of an eight-day heat wave in which high temperatures ranged between 93° and 98°.
30 - With a high of 98°/low of 78°, today was the hottest day of the year, fifteen degrees above average.
SEPTEMBER
4 - This was the last day of an eight-day heat wave, the longest since one of nine days in July 1966. The average high/low during this stretch of days was 95°/75°, thirteen degrees above average. Today's high was 93°. This was also the last 90-degree day of the summer, bringing the year's total to eighteen - close to the average of nineteen (years between 1940-1972).
7 - Today's high/low of 82°/65° made this the 14th day in a row with a warmer than average mean temperature. During these two weeks temperatures averaged ten degrees above average.
13 - From Aug. 3 thru today, a period of six weeks, just 0.81" of rain fell. This was the longest streak with less than an inch of rainfall since a 45-day streak in Jan/Feb 1968.
23 - The 0.24" of rain that fell in the pre-dawn hours was the first to fall on this date in sixteen years.
OCTOBER
7 - Today, with a high of 69° degrees, was the only day between Sept. 26 and Oct. 10 that didn't have a high of 70° or warmer. The average high during these 15 days was 75°, seven degrees above average.
15 - Thirteen of the fifteen days between Oct. 1 and today saw highs in the 70s. Today's high was 76°, twelve above average.
28 - Today was the 26th day in a row with no measurable precipitation, the longest dry spell since before 1960 - and it wouldn't be topped until June 1999. Furthermore, from Sept. 15 thru today, a total 44 days, just 0.91" of rain fell. This was the longest streak with less than an inch of rainfall since a 45-day streak in Jan/Feb 1968, and topped a streak of 42 days that ended on Sept. 13 of this year.
29 - A heavy, all-day rain amounted to 3.67", a record for the date. Up until today just 0.03" had fallen this month, and it fell twenty-seven days earlier.
NOVEMBER
10 - The morning low of 31°, thirteen degrees below average, was the fall's first temperature of 32° or colder.
15 - Today's high was a record-setting 77° (broken twenty years later), the warmest day in six weeks. It was also the 14th day in a row with no precipitation.
22 - A year after the coldest Thanksgiving Day in many years (high/low of 35°/21°), this year's was the mildest in 40 years as the high/low was 64°/53°, fourteen degrees above average. Skies were mostly sunny.
DECEMBER
5 - 1.15" of rain fell today, much of it pouring down between 8-10 PM. This was the first of six rainstorms of one inch or more to occur this month. It was also a mild day, with a high of 61°, after a low of 56°.
16 - One of New York's worst ice storms moved in during the afternoon and continued for 24 hours (the worst of it was between 11:00 PM today thru daybreak on 12/17). Nearly three inches of sleet accumulated, and an inch of ice formed on sidewalks, cars and trees. For the entirety of the storm, the temperature ranged between 27° and 30°.
17 - The epic ice storm continued through this morning. Conditions were worse than yesterday as sleet and freezing rain fell at an even heavier rate. In total, 1.46" of precipitation fell - all in the form of sleet or freezing rain. The temperature stayed below freezing all day and by midnight had fallen to 17°.
18 - For the third day in a row the low temperature was 17°, 14 degrees below average, and the the coldest reading of the month.
19 - This was the second day in a row with a frigid high/low of 25°/17°, the coldest days of the month. The sub-freezing cold prevented the layer of thick ice from the ice storm of 12/16-17 from melting quickly.
21 - Yesterday and today were contrasts in big swings in temperature. Yesterday the temperature climbed throughout the day, rising from 25° at midnight to 54° twenty-four hours later. Today the temperature reversed course, falling from 57° just before daybreak to 25° by midnight. Additionally, a lot of rain fell in the morning and afternoon, amounting to 2.49" (a record for the date). Today's deluge pushed the month's precipitation over eight inches, making this the wettest December on record (a record that still stands). An additional 1.54" of precipitation would fall in the month's remaining ten days, bringing the month's total to just under ten inches.
26 - 1.19" of rain fell today, making this the month's sixth rainstorm of one-inch or more. The lion's share of today's rain fell between 3-9 PM.
31 - It was a raw and damp end to the year. Between 11 PM and midnight 0.05" of rain fell, and the temperature was 33° when the ball dropped in Times Square. Today's 0.29" of rainfall brought the month's total precipitation to just under ten inches (9.98").
To read highlights from other years between 1970 and 2018 double click here.
four of the first six months this year had a very similar precipitation total. 4.53" fell in January, 4.55" fell in February, 4.51" fell May and 4.55" fell in June.
Posted by: William | 05/29/2019 at 09:45 AM