Second Warmest Year Globally Is New York's Fourteenth Warmest

 

 

Following what was the warmest year on record worldwide, 2017 checked in as the second warmest.  In New York, however, the year didn't rank quite as high, coming in as fourteenth warmest.  But make no mistake, it was still a warm year, ranking higher than 135 others (New York's weather records go back to 1869, which is much further than most US cities).  The fact that the year had five months with below average temperatures makes its ranking rather impressive.  These five months were balanced by the warmest February and October on record.  Nine of the City's fifteen warmest years have now occurred in this century (including the past three years). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[William]

how did 1993 not make the top 15 list (didn't even make the top 20) despite having the most number of 90° days? three of which were 100+ which is the most 100° days of any year since 1980.

[Rob]

This just goes to show that the number of 90-degree+ days is just one factor in determining the overall warmth of a year. For instance, 1998 and 2006 are both among the 10 warmest years in NYC, but both had just eight 90-degree days (and 2017 had a below average amount of hot days as well). The reason 1993 didn't rank higher is due to the fact that it had a lot fewer days that were 10 degrees or more above average. While it had 32 such days, all of the years among the top 15 warmest had at least 49 of these well above-average days. (And 1991, which had the same number of 90-degree days as 1993, had 76 days that were 10-degrees or more above average.) Furthermore, 1993 had a lot more days that were 10-degrees or more colder than average than all of the top 15 (with the exception of 2015, but that year had nearly twice as many days that were 10-degrees+ above average).

[William]

you noted that Central Park's weather records go back to 1869. do you know why they go back a lot farther than most other cities in the country? I always thought maybe because CPK is not located at an airport, unlike many other weather stations.

[Rob]

I suppose it was a matter of interest and expertise in the field of meteorology back then. Although their records don't go back as far as New York, most major cities had measurement sites before the establishment of airports (at the turn of the 20th century).

[William]

whenever I hear and/or think about 1998 and 2006, both of these years always bring Ben Stiller to my mind because he played the title character in There's Something About Mary (theatrically released on July 15, 1998) and Night At The Museum (theatrically released on December 22, 2006).

[William]

You wouldn't know some of the years on this chart rank among one of the warmest, considering a few of them have also been quite snowy. 2010, 2011 and 2015 just to name a few. additionally, 2006 and 2016 contain one of the biggest snow storms on record, as does 2010.