Friday the 13th Weather Highlights
Friday the 13th appears on the calendar one to three times each year. But despite the date's association with impending doom, the weather on this date has been a mixed bag of weather conditions. Of the dates listed below, half had inclement conditions - but none cataclysmic in nature. Therefore, from a weather perspective, there's no need to fear Friday the 13th more than the other days of the year.
Hottest: 95° (July 13, 1979)
Coldest: -1° (Feb. 13, 1914)
Rainiest: 2.61" (March 13, 1953)
Snowiest: 7.8" (Feb. 13, 1939)
September 13, 1889
A dissipating hurricane stalled off the Delmarva Peninsula and brought bands of rain over the course of the past four days, amounting to 4.46", with much of it (3.34") falling yesterday and today. Except for one hour this afternoon, the temperature was stuck in the 60s.
August 13, 1909
The day's 0.81" of rain poured down between 10 AM and noon.
February 13, 1914
The morning low of -1° is the most frigid reading to occur on any Friday the 13th (in the years since 1900). After dark, snow began falling and by midnight 1.6" had accumulated and the temperature rose to 26°. This evening's snow was followed by 8.1" during the morning of the 14th.
January 13, 1939
Beginning mid-afternoon, a snowfall of 8.8" (1.0" of it fell on 1/14) tied the Thanksgiving snowstorm of 11/24-25 as the biggest snowfall of the season. It was also the most snow to fall on any Friday the 13th.
August 13, 1943
A strong thunderstorm dumped 0.80" of rain in less than an hour between 10:00 and 11:00 this morning.
March 13, 1953
The 2.61" of rain that fell during the morning made this the rainiest Friday the 13th in the years since 1900. This rain was from a nor'easter that moved in yesterday afternoon (when 1.17" of rain fell). The amount was a record for the date (broken in 2010 when 3.86" of rain fell).
September 13, 1957
Today's high of 91° was the century's first reading in the 90s on a Friday the 13th (it would happen three more times: July 1962, August 1976 and July 1979).
April 13, 1962
After going four years without a National League baseball team to call its own, the New York Mets played their first home opener, in unseasonably cold conditions, with a high/low of 43°/38° (nine degrees below average). Windy and overcast, there were showers before daybreak and again late in the afternoon, amounting to 0.13". As for the game, the Mets lost to the Pirates, 4-3.
November 13, 1970
A nor'easter produced 1.66" of rain that fell through early evening.
January 13, 1978
A nasty winter storm brought snow in the morning and early afternoon and an onslaught of sleet and rain after dark. The ice and snow accumulated 3.0"; liquid precipitation amounted to one inch. The temperature was at 32° or colder all day until after 10 PM when it rose to 33.° (One week later 13.6" of snow would bury the City.)
July 13, 1979
The day's high was 95°, and with dew points during the afternoon in the the 73°-75° range, the heat index reached 106°
December 13, 1985
A breeze out of the northeast, low clouds and periods of drizzle kept the temperature from moving much as just two degrees separated the high (40°) and low (38°).
October 13, 1995
Today's high hit 86°, twenty degrees above the average high for the middle of October.
February 13, 1998
Today was the 30th day in a row with above-average temperatures - and 42nd out of the last 43 (beginning Jan. 2). The mean temperature during this six-week period was nine degrees above average.
May 13, 2005
For the third day in a row the high was an unseasonably warm 86°, seventeen degrees above average.
April 13, 2012
Despite it being Friday the 13th, skies were clear, temperatures pleasant (low 60s, a few degrees above average), and the Yankees won their home opener, beating the Angels, 5-0. However, from Yankee Stadium smoke could be seen in the distance, rising from a brush fire in Central Park as very low humidity posed a threat for brush fires throughout the area.
June 13, 2014
Heavy showers moved through the area around 9 AM, and 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.
February 13, 2015
Although the coldest low on Friday the 13th is -1°, set in February 1914, the coldest high temperature occurred today, when it was only 21° (the day's low was 8°; in 1914 the high was 26°)
April 13, 2018
Today's high soared to 82° the day after the high reached 63° (which was the mildest reading in more than seven weeks). This was eight days earlier than a year's typical first 80-degree reading. And this morning's low of 60° was what the average high should be.
August 13, 2021
A sweltering high/low of 94°/78° produced the hottest mean temperature of any Friday the 13th (as mentioned earlier, July 13, 1979 has the hottest high temperature of any Friday the 13th - 95°).