July 2023 Weather Recap: Consistently Warm Rather Than Excessively Hot
This post may be one of the few weather-related articles that doesn't hyperventilate about hot weather in the middle of summer. And despite New York's news media hyping the term "heat dome" any time the local forecast called for a high approaching 90°, just five days in July had highs in the 90s in NYC, and there were no heat waves; the hottest reading was just 93°. Globally, July was the hottest month on record, but that wasn't the case in Central Park as it was the 20th warmest July (average high/low was 86.4°/71.7°, 1.5 degrees above average).
Every day but one had a high of 80° or warmer (the typical number of days in July with highs cooler than 80° is six), comparable to last July which had no such days. As for low temperatures, this July and July 2022 both reported 24 days with lows in the 70s, tying three other Julys for third most (July 2020 had 26, 2010 had 25). Although it had a below average number of days in the 90s (five versus seven), July 2023 had an above average concentration of highs that were 88° or 89°, with ten counted.
July was slightly wetter than average, with 5.34" measured. This was almost double the amount that fell in May and June combined (which had 1.29" and 1.62", respectively). More rain fell in the first four days of July (1.66") than what fell in all of June. This included 0.63" of rain that fell on 7/4, the most on Independence Day since 1981 (when 1.76" fell).
The month's greatest daily rainfall was 1.32" on 7/16 (0.91" of it fell between 11 AM and 1 PM); this daily total was more than what fell in all of April. On that day, which had a low of 74°, the high reached just 78°, which is the coolest high temperature ever reported with a low this warm.
Only five days had below average temperatures, all of which occurred in the second half of the month. Meanwhile, seven days were five or more degrees above average.
July's temperature range was only 27 degrees, from 66° to 93°. This compares to an average range of 34 degrees (62° to 96°). Only one other July has had a smaller range (2004's 24-degree range).
Although there were no heat waves, there was a streak of eight days with highs of 85° or warmer (July 22-29). Finally, high dew points were a consistent feature of July as two-thirds of the days in July experienced dew points of 70° or warmer, giving the air an uncomfortable, tropical feel.
Here are July recaps from previous years: