August 2022 Is New York's Third Hottest On Record

 

 

With an average high 86.9°/low of 71.7° (3.2 degrees above average) August 2022 ranks as NYC's third hottest August on record (behind August 1980 and August 2005).  The hottest temperature of the month, and entire year, was 97° on 8/9 (the last time it was this hot in August was in 2006).  This was one of eleven days in the 90s, which was well above the average of four.  This August was the 14th to have 10 or more days with highs of 90° or hotter (August 1980 has the most, with 15).  And its 22 days with lows of 70° or warmer was tied for second most behind 1980, 2005, and 2018, all which had 23.

 

  

With 1.71" of rainfall, this was the driest August since 1995 (when just 0.18" was measured) and the  18th driest August overall.  The rainiest day was 8/1, when 0.48" fell.  (8/1 also had the month's coolest high, 77°).  The driest period of the month was the 15 days between 8/2-8/16 when just 0.30" of rain was measured.

 

August's coolest high temperature on 8/1 was followed by 10 consecutive days with highs of 87° or hotter, the longest such streak in ten years.  Six of the days were in the 90s, and the streak's average high was 91°.

 

The coolest low reading was 62° (on 8/18), making this the ninth August in a row in which there were no low temperatures in the 50s.  (The longest streak of lows in the 50s in August is 14 years between 1878 and 1891, and 13 years from 1915 to 1927).

 

There was a beautiful symmetry to the month's daily lows.  The month started and ended with lows in the upper 60s.  The following 11 days after 8/1 as well as the 11 days preceding 8/31 had lows in the 70s.  And the seven days in between the two streaks were all in the 60s.  One difference between the two streaks of lows in the 70s was that the earlier one was two degrees warmer (75° vs 73°).  Embedded in the first 11-day streak were seven days in a row with lows of 75° or warmer, the second longest such streak in August (after Aug. 1896), while the second streak had just one reading that warm.

JULY-AUGUST

Last year July and August were noteworthy because both months had more than 10 inches of rain; this year it was their hot temperatures that gained attention.  July-Augusts 2022's average temperature tied with 2010 as the third hottest July-August combo (behind July-August 1980 and 2005).  The two months were also one of 12 pairs of months in which both had 10 or more days in the 90s (all pairs were July-August, except in 1966 when it was June-July).  Finally, this July and August combined for the most lows of 70+, at 46 (the average number is 29).

 

SUMMER RECAP

This summer was 8th hottest on record (June-July-August), joining four other summers from this century, including the hottest of all-time in 2010.  Although 2022's rank of average temperature (average of  the average high/low) was 8th, its ranking for average low was higher, at #4.

 

 

MISCELLANEOUS

• This August was the seventh month with 1.71" of rain.  The previous time was in May 1977.
  
• Despite being third warmest for average temperature, Aug. 2022 ranks sixth for warmest high as well as sixth for warmest low.
• With Aug. 2020 entering the top 10, it pushed Aug. 1955 out of the exclusive club.
• Although July 2022 was 0.2 degrees hotter than Aug. 2022, July ranked as 13th hottest among all Julys.

 

Here are monthly recaps for past Augusts:

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

 

 

 

Comments

[Guttmana9]

For the record, while 97 is the hottest in august since 2006, a temperature equally as hot occured in SEPTEMBER 2015

[rob]

To make your comment clearer, what you're saying is that although the observation about a high of 97 last occurring in August was in 2006, the last time Central Park had a reading of 97 was in Sept. 2015.

[William]

this month had the most lows of 71° or warmer of any August ever, with 22. July and August combined this year had the most lows of 71° or warmer of any Jul-Aug combo ever, with 43 (last month had 21). July and August of this year had a high of 77° or warmer on every single day of both months. this was the first time this ever happened in July and August.

[William]

this month had the most lows of 71° or warmer of any August ever, with 22. July and August combined this year had the most lows of 71° or warmer of any Jul-Aug combo ever, with 43 (last month had 21). July and August of this year had a high of 77° or warmer on every single day of both months. this was the first time this ever happened in July and August.