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Frost-Free Winter Days: A History (1970 - 2023)
Jack Frost Nipping at Your Nose: Cold Winter Days (1970 - 2020)

New York Weather Highlights of 2014

 2014

 

JANUARY

2 - A sprawling winter storm moved into the area during the evening with snow beginning at 6:30 and continuing into the overnight hours.  In total 6.4" fell.  Besides snow and gusty winds, there was Arctic cold to contend with as the mercury fell from the upper 20s when the snow started, to 18° by midnight, and down to 11° by daybreak on 1/3.

3 - Snow ended before daybreak and the rest of the day had clear skies and frigid temperatures.  3.3" fell after midnight on top of the 3.1" that fell yesterday.  With a high of just 18° and a low of 9° (at midnight), the day's mean temperature was the coldest in five years. 

7 - The morning low of +4°, the coldest reading in New York in 10 years, was fifty-one degrees colder than 24 hours earlier.  Wind chill values were in the -10° to -20° range.  And although the day's official high of 19° was reached just after midnight, temperatures in the afternoon were only in the single digits, thirty degrees colder than average.

8 - This morning's low was 9°, a reading that held steady for 15 consecutive hours, beginning at 4 PM yesterday.

21 - After a week-and-a-half respite winter returned with a vengeance as wind-driven snow and plunging temperatures snarled the City.  By midnight temperatures had fallen into the low teens (wind chill was at zero degrees) and 11" of snow was on the ground (with snow that fell after midnight, the total accumulation was 11.5").  The timing of the snow couldn't have been worse for commuters as it began around 9 AM and continued until 10 PM.

22 - Arctic air overtook the region as yesterday's snowstorm exited.  With a high/low of 17°/5°, and a sub-zero wind chill, this was the coldest day of the winter (mean temperature). 

23 - This was the 22nd day in a row in which no high temperature was duplicated.  During these days highs ranged between 17° and 58°.

31 - This was the 20th day in a row in which no low temperature was duplicated.  During these days lows ranged between 5° and 44°.

 

FEBRUARY

2 - Today's high of 56° made this the mildest reading of the month (the month's coldest temperature would occur at the end of the month).  And fears that today's Super Bowl game in northern New Jersey would be played in cold and/or snowy conditions were allayed when the game time temperature was in the upper 40s. 

3 - After yesterday's brief respite, winter returned in a big way as eight inches of snow fell in the morning.  This snowfall was a record for the date.

5 - The fifth winter storm of the season punished the area with four inches of snow and a quarter-inch of sleet and freezing rain.  The precipitation fell heaviest between 1-6 AM and snarled the AM commute.  This storm brought the winter's snowfall to 40.3" - the seventh time in the past 12 winters that more than 40 inches of more snow has fallen.

12 - With a high/low of 25°/13°, this was the seventh day in a row with a high temperature of 32° or colder, making it the longest such streak since one of nine days in January 2005.  This week-long period was 10 degrees colder than average.  It was also the longest streak of cold weather in February since 1979, when there was one of 11 days.

13 - An intense winter storm moved up the East Coast and brought with it high winds, heavy snow in the morning (9.5"), rain in the evening (accompanied by thunder & lightning) and an additional three inches of snow after midnight.  This was the fourth snowfall of six inches or more in the past six weeks, and brought the season's snowfall over 50".

18 - A quick shot of snow fell between 5-10 AM and accumulated 1.5".  This brought the total snowfall in the past 30 days (since Jan. 21) to 42.1" - the most ever in a 30-day period.  Today's snowfall was the eighth of one-inch or more in this time frame.       

28 - This morning's frigid low of 9° (22 degrees below average) was the latest date for a reading in the single digits since 1967, when the AM low on March 19 was 8°.

 

MARCH

3 - A winter storm that, a few days earlier, was predicted to dump six to twelve inches of snow on NYC was pushed to the south by Arctic high pressure and delivered a mere dusting of 0.1".  This would be the only measurable snow of the month.  Today's high/low was just 31°/17°, fifteen degrees below average.

6 - Sunny and quite cold, with a high/low of 31°/16°.  This was the third day this month with a sub-freezing high, the most in the month of March since 1984, which had five.

11 - It was a beautiful early spring day as skies were sunny and the temperature soared to 66° (19 above average).  This was the first 60-degree reading of the year, the latest date for this occurrence since 2003, when it happened on March 16.  Average date for the first 60 is Feb. 3 (since 1970).

13 - Between 3 PM yesterday and 7:00 this morning the temperature plunged from 56° to 18°.  This surge of Arctic cold was accompanied by wind gusts of 35-50 mph, which produced below zero wind chills.  Under clear skies today's afternoon temperature struggled to rise into the mid-20s.

17 - With a high/low of 35°/23° this was the coldest St. Paddy's Day in ten years.  However, although both years had the same mean temperature (29.0°), this year's high was four degrees warmer, but the low was four degrees colder.  A winter storm, which dumped 6" of snow on DC, stayed just to our south for the second time this month.

27 - With a high/low of 44°/22°, today's mean temperature was 13 degrees below average.  This was the 27th day since Jan. 1 with a mean temperature 10 degrees or more below average - the most since 1936.  The average number of such days during the first three months of the year is 10.5.  (In 2016 there would be 26 such days by this date.)

 

APRIL

4 - The day was gray, raw and damp with drizzle and mist.  The afternoon temperature hovered around 42°, twenty-five degrees colder than yesterday.

7 - Morning sunshine dimmed by mid-day and rain moved in late in the afternoon, but it held off until the Yankees' home opener had ended (they beat the Orioles 4-2).  The game was played under overcast skies with temperatures in the chilly low 50s.

11 - The temperature jumped to 75°, making this the first 70-degree reading of the year (yesterday's high was 58°).  This came 2-1/2 weeks later than the typical first 70 and was the latest date for this occurrence since 2003, when it happened on 4/15.

13 - Today's high of 77° was the mildest reading of the month and made this April the first since 2000 not to see a reading in the 80s.

14 - This was the fourth day in a row with highs in the 70s.  The average high during these days was 75°, fifteen degrees above average.

15 - A strong cold front moved through early in the evening and cut the temperature nearly in half, from 63° at 4 PM to 33° by 11:30.  Steady rain (0.71") changed to snow/sleet after 10 PM, which had a tough time accumulating since the ground had been warmed from four days in the 70s.

16 - The morning low of 31° was the latest date for a temperature of 32° or colder since 1980, when the low dropped to 32° on April 17.  The last time a temperature was below 32° this late was back in 1943 when the low was 30° - also on April 4/16.  Additionally, the dusting of snow that fell this morning was the latest for a trace of snow since 1997.  Today's chilly low broke a string of six consecutive Aprils with no lows of freezing or colder, the longest streak on record.

30 - Until this year April 30 was one of three dates that had never seen an inch of rain.  That more than ended today as nearly five inches flooded the area, with more than half of it falling after 6 PM.  The 4.97" that fell was the tenth greatest daily rainfall on record (now ranked twelfth).  Besides the rain it was also a very raw day with temperatures only in the 40s.  

 

MAY

1 - What a difference a day makes.  Following one of the rainiest days on record, skies cleared this morning and afternoon temperatures soared into the upper 70s, more than thirty degrees warmer than yesterday.

10 - With a high of 83°, today was the first day this year to warm into the 80s - the latest "first 80" since 1997.  The air had a tropical feel to it and strong thunderstorms moved through at around 5 PM accompanied by winds that gusted to 40-50 mph.

11 - Mother's Day featured a high of 82°, topping that of Mother's Day 2012 by one degree, making it the warmest since 1993.

12 - A warm and sultry day.  With a high/low of 85°/64° (14 degrees above average), this was the warmest day since Oct. 4, when it was 86°/66°.  This was also the third day in a row in the 80s, the first time it happened since mid-September.

16 - A light, wind-swept rain during the afternoon turned steadier and heavier after dark.  The 1.54" that fell was over before midnight.  This was the twelfth day of the past eighteen to see some rain, totaling a lucky 7.77".  Most of it fell today and on 4/30 (when 4.97" fell).

26 - Today was Memorial Day and conditions were very summery as the high reached 86° after a low of 66°.  This was the eighth time in the past nine years that the temperature on Memorial Day got into the 80s (last year, with a high of 73°, was the exception).  Since 2006 the average high on the holiday has been 84°, nine degrees above average.

28 - One day after a sultry high of 86° (which drove me to turn on my a/c for the first time this year), today was overcast with afternoon temperatures only in the upper 50s.

 

JUNE

1 - It was a glorious day for the first day of June as skies were sunny, temperatures rose into the upper 70s and the humidity was very low.  Today's conditions were very similar to those on May 1.

13 - Heavy showers moved through around 9 AM and then a severe thunderstorm struck between 5:45 and 7:30 PM.  In between, during the afternoon, the sun broke through for the first time in five days.  The 1.28" of rain that fell came one year after 1.26" fell on the same date.

15- Today was Father's Day and if you forgot to give Dad a necktie there was no need to fret since the weather was gift enough as skies were mostly clear and the afternoon temperature rose to a seasonable 80° (but two degrees cooler than Mother's Day).

17 - Very warm and humid, but the first 90-degree day of the year was not to be as the high topped out at 89° (it reached 91° in Newark).  However, we did have our first 70-degree low (two weeks later than usual).

18 - Although meteorological summer of 2014 (June 1 thru Aug. 31) would have six days in the 90s, today, with a high/low of 89°/76°, had the warmest mean temperature of the year (later exceeded by Sept. 2's high/low of 92°/77°).

29 - A beauty of a day for this year's Gay Pride Parade as skies were clear, the humidity was low and afternoon temperatures were in the low 80s.

30 - This was New York's thirty-first June (since 1869), with no 90-degree days, yet it managed to be 1.0 degree warmer than average.  Of all of the "no-90" Junes, this was the warmest of them all.  This was also the first year since 1985 to have no 90-degree temperatures in the first half of the year.

 

JULY

2 - This was the year's first day in the 90s, the latest date for this occurrence since the summer of 1985.  It was sunny and uncomfortably humid, making the high of 91° feel like 96°.  Some relief arrived after 6:00 when severe thunderstorms with vivid lightning rumbled through the area over the next four hours.  Central Park picked up nearly an inch of rain.

3 - Like yesterday, severe thunderstorms moved through in the evening.  Unlike yesterday today's storms didn't feature as much vivid lightning but produced nearly twice as much rain (1.78") in half the time (7:00-9:00).

4 - Skies were gray and light showers fell through mid-afternoon, the result of New York being on the northwestern fringe of Hurricane Arthur's rain shield.  It was also on the windy side.  However, by late afternoon the sun began breaking through and skies were mostly clear by the time of Macy's fireworks extravaganza.  Although the amount of rain was light, 0.14", it was the most rain to fall on the 4th of July in six years.  And the high of 74° was the coolest in seven years (and 12 degrees cooler than Memorial Day 2014).

7 - For the fifth year in a row on this date the high reached the 90s.  This year, the high was 90°, which was the "coolest" of the five years: (100°-92°-97°-92°-90°).

15 - For the ninth day in a row the low temperature was either 71° or 72°.  (Average low during these days is 69°.)

23 - 0.19" of rain fell during a thunderstorm shortly after 9 PM, making this the twelfth year of the past fifteen to pick up measurable rain on this date.

 

AUGUST

5 - Today's high was 90°, the first 90-degree reading in four weeks, and just the fourth 90-degree day of the summer.  Typically, there have been a dozen such days by the first week of August.  There would be four more hot readings between Aug. 27 and Sept. 6

29 - The last work week of the summer was a delight as skies were sunny, humidity low and high temperatures very summer-like: 88°-89°-90°-82°-80° (today).

31 - Meteorological summer ended on a hot and sultry note with a high/low of 90°/73°.  With dew points in the low 70s, the heat index rose into the mid-90s.  During late afternoon 0.63" of rain fell during a heavy downpour between 4:30 and 5 PM.  This was the most rain to fall on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend since 2000. 

 

SEPTEMBER

1 - It was a very sultry Labor Day and the high/low of 88°/75° (nine degrees above average) made it the warmest holiday since 1983 (based on mean temperature), when it was 91°/73°. 

2 - Not only was today's high of 92° the hottest reading of the year, the low of 77° was the warmest minimum temperature this year.  Today's mean of 84.5° was two degrees warmer than June 18, which had a high/low of 89°/75°.  2014 joined ten other years whose hottest readings were 92° or lower (three were in the past ten years). 

6 - Today was the last day of a week-long hot spell in which every day had a high of 86° or warmer.  The high/low during this stretch, the longest of the summer, was 89°/72°, close to nine degrees above average.  Three of the seven days had highs in the 90s, including today's 91°.  This was the eighth year in which Sept. 6 had the last 90-degree reading of the year - the most of any date.

7 - Today was the fifteenth day in a row with a high in the 80s, the longest such streak of the year.  This was one day longer than a streak of 80-degree days in July.

24 - The high reached 71° for the third day in a row, right at the seasonal average.

28 - The last weekend of the month had spectacular weather.  Under clear skies on Saturday and sunny skies on Sunday high temperatures rose into the low 80s, thirteen degrees above average.  And Friday had been equally fine, with clear skies and a high in the upper 70s.

 

OCTOBER

3-4 - Skies were clear and temperatures seasonable the evening Yom Kippur began, but Oct. 4 saw 1.18" of rain fall between 5 AM-2 PM, making it the second rainiest Yom Kippur in the years since 1970 (0.75" fell between 11 AM-1 PM).  However, skies cleared rapidly and by 4 PM conditions were as nice as the evening before.  This amount of rain was just 0.03" less than what fell in all of September. 

15 - It appeared today was going to become the latest date on record for a 70-degree low, but it was not to be as the temperature fell to 69° shortly after 11:00 during a brief downpour.  So the record set on Oct. 7, 2005 remained intact. 

18 - Today saw a high in the 70s for the fifth day in a row.  During these days the average high/low was 73°/62°, eleven degrees above average.  Since Sept. 27 temperatures were five degrees above average.

22 - It was a raw, windy and rainy day as a nor'easter slowly worked its way up the mid-Atlantic coast.  Temperatures for much of the day were in the low 50s.  By midnight, with rain still falling, 1.51" had been measured, a record for the date (beating 1984's amount by 0.06").  This was the third one-inch rainfall of the month.

23 - Yesterday's nor'easter continued into today with breezy conditions and showers thru early afternoon; temperatures were stuck in the low 50s.  In total 2.12" of rain fell from the storm (0.61" of it fell today), which was the greatest amount measured in the tri-state area.  Long Island, however, reported much higher wind gusts (40-50 mph).

 

NOVEMBER

2 - Runners participating in today's NYC Marathon were buffeted by high winds, with gusts of 30-45 mph, depending on the neighborhood you were running through.  These winds resulted in the slowest running times for the winners since the 1984 event (when conditions were warm and humid).  Besides the high winds it was also chilly, with a reading of 43° at the start of the race and wind chills in the mid to upper 30s.

18 - After flirting with it the past few days the temperature fell to 32° for the first time this autumn.  It came after the passage of an Arctic front that brought unseasonably cold air to much of the continental US.  And although the high temperature was officially 45° just after midnight, afternoon temperatures were only in the low 30s with wind chills in the teens.

19 - Although the morning low of 22° was four degrees shy of the record (set in 1936), it was the coldest reading to occur before Nov. 20 since 1986 (when there was a low of 22° on Nov. 14).

22 - With a low of 28° today was the fifth day in a row with a sub-freezing low temperature, just the fourth time since 1960 that there's been a streak of this many days (or more) in November.  The others occurred in 2008, 2000 and 1989.

24 - A lashing rain overnight (0.70" was measured) was accompanied by a surge of very mild air.  The sun broke through at around lunchtime and the temperature warmed to 69°, making this the warmest day of the month - five days after the coldest temperature was recorded.  At midnight the temperature was still 68°.

26 - A coastal storm the day before Thanksgiving brought 1.25" of rain.  It also produced the season's first snowfall, but it was just 0.2" as the temperature never got colder than 34°.  However, significant snowfall (six inches+) fell in northern NJ, eastern PA, New York state and New England.

27 - It was a raw and gray Thanksgiving Day, with temperatures in the 30s (high/low of 38°/34°).  Snow flurries were in the air during the Macy's parade.

 

DECEMBER

8 - Today's low of 24° was the coldest reading this month, and two degrees above November's coldest reading.  Since 1970 only two other Decembers had a milder reading than November for its coldest temperature of the month.  

9 - A strong nor'easter lashed the City, beginning a few hours before daybreak and continuing thru mid-afternoon.  It produced 2.54" of rain, a record for the date; winds gusted between 30-40 mph (and 45-55 mph on Long Island).  This storm brought to mind the big nor'easter of Dec. 11, 1992 (which also produced a record amount of rain for the date).  However, today's wasn't quite as powerful or disruptive.

10 - Like last year, the first snowfall of one-inch or more arrived today (about two weeks earlier than normal).  Snow showers that moved in during the afternoon began accumulating in the evening when the temperature fell to 32°.  This snow was wraparound precipitation from yesterday's nor'easter.   

20 - It was a cold day under slate gray skies, with just three degrees separating the high and low (33°/30°).

24 - A rainy day (0.80" fell), the fifth gloomy day in a row.  The mild high of 58° was reached at 9 PM.

25 - Today's mild high of 62° (reached shortly before 4 AM) was twice as warm as last Christmas - and was two degrees warmer than Easter.  Showers in the early morning hours made this the fifteenth day with precipitation this month, the most of any month this year.

28 - Today was the sixth day in a row in which the mean temperature was 10 degrees or more above average, the longest such streak since one of eight days in March 2012.  Today's high/low of 54°/43° (under mostly overcast skies) was also the average high/low of the past six days.  These six days were 14 degrees milder than average.

31 - Under sunny skies, it was a frosty close to the year, with a high/low of 32°/27°.  (Last year also ended with a high of 32°.)  Today's high was the first this winter at 32° or colder, nine days later than average.

 

Chart - 2014 hottest and coldest

 

To read highlights from other years between 1970 and 2023 double click here. 

 

 

 

 

 

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William

this November had more days with a low temperature colder than 30° compared to December (6 vs 3). this year joins 1986 (5 vs 4), 1936 (11 vs 10) and 1873 (16 vs 15) as the only four years in which this has occurred. additionally, this year had the most such days in November since 1989 when there were seven.

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