February 2023 Weather Recap: 3rd Mildest, 10th Driest

 

Following the mildest January on record, February 2023 was the third mildest February (behind Feb. 2018 and 2017).  One anomaly was an Arctic flash-freeze which saw the temperature drop to 3° on 2/4.  (By contrast, January’s coldest reading was 28°.)  Overall, the month was 5.2 degrees milder than average (January was 9.8 degrees above average), which was largely due to a 13-day period between Feb. 8-20 that had temperatures that were 12 degrees above average. 

 

The month was 2.4 degrees colder than January.  While the two months had similar average highs (48.6° in Feb., 48.7° in Jan.), February's average low was 4.6 degrees colder (33.6° vs. 38.2°)

 

The range in temperature during the month was 67 degrees (from 3° to 70°), which was the greatest range in February since 1961 (-2° to 65°).  Average range in February is 48 degrees (13° to 61°).  The reading of 70° on 2/16 was the twelfth time a reading of 70+ was reported in February and a year’s earliest date for a reading of 70+ since 2007.

 

Feb. 1 had the first measurable snow of the winter (0.4"), the latest date on record.  The next snowfall was nearly four weeks later (Feb. 27-28) when 1.8" fell.  32 other Februarys have had less snow than February 2023's 2.2", including last February and February 2020, which had 2.0" and a trace, respectively. 

 

1.28” of precipitation was reported, an amount that made it the tenth driest on record (0.01" less than February 1872, which was pushed out of the top 10).  The greatest amount from a storm was 0.55" on 2/27-28.  

 

The winter of 2023 was the third mildest on record (behind the winters of 2002 and 2016, but January and February 2023 became the mildest first two months of any year, easily beating Jan-Feb 1990.   Finally, the winter of 2023 was the 18th in which December was the coldest month.

 

 

 

 

Here are other February recaps:

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2015

Old Man Winter A No-Show As January 2023 Becomes NYC's Mildest January

 

 

You might say that January 2023 had a January thaw that lasted for the entirety of the month, resulting in New York's mildest January on record (0.3 degrees warmer than Jan. 1932).  Temperatures were 9.8 degrees above average, with every day being milder than average.  It joined December 2015 as the only two months to have this distinction.  Average high/low was 49°/38°.  (The high was comparable to Nashville's average high in January, the average low was comparable to Atlanta's.)

 

On average, January is 5.4 degrees colder than December, but about once every five years it's warmer than December - 2023  was one of these years as January was five degrees milder than December.  Only three other Januarys have been more than five degrees milder than the preceding December: Jan. 1990 was 15.5 degrees milder than Dec. 1989 (41.4° vs. 25.9°); Jan. 1911 was 6.3 degrees warmer (36.3° vs. 30.0°); and Jan. 2006 was 5.3 degrees milder (40.9° vs. 35.6°).

 

After December ended with three days in a row that were ten or more degrees above average, the streak continued for the first six days of January (the January portion of the streak was 17 degrees above average).  It wasn't until 1/14 that a reading of 32° or colder occurred; only Jan. 2005 had a later date for this first cold reading (occurring one day later).

 

 

The month had 14 days with highs of 50° or warmer; and 15 days were ten or more degrees above average.  The mildest reading was 66° (the only day in the 60s).  And only three days had highs chillier than 40°, with the coldest high being 38°.  Just four days had lows of 32° or colder (21 days is the January average).  The coldest reading was 28°, which is the mildest reading to be the coldest for any January.  (The previous record was 25° in 1937.)

 

The most above average day was 1/4, twenty-three degrees above average (high/low of 66°/49°), and since there were no days below average, the least above average day was on 1/14, with a high/low of 38°/31°, two degrees above average.

 

Jan. 31 was the 35th consecutive day with an above average mean temperature, breaking the previous record of 34 days during the winter of 2015-16 (Dec. 1-Jan. 3). 

 

Besides the consistent above average readings, January had no measurable snow (average amount is about nine inches); but there were traces reported on three days.  It tied 2008 and 1933 for being the second least snowy January (Jan. 1890 reported no snow, not even a trace). 

 

With no measurable snow falling in either November or December, Central Park on 1/29 broke the 1973 record for the latest date in a winter without seeing any measurable snow (the first snow finally arrived in the pre-dawn hours of 2/1 when 0.4" accumulated).  

 

Finally, the month's total precipitation of 4.38" was very similar to January 2022's 4.29", about three-quarters of an inch above average.  (However, last January's precipitation included 15.3" of snow.)  Much of the rain, 3.13", fell in the eight-day period from the 19th to the 26th; the biggest rainstorm produced 1.34" on 1/25-26.

 

 

 

One observation about the five mildest Januarys is that if Jan. 1932 didn't have a high/low of 33°/24° on the last day of the month it would likely still  be the mildest January as the first 30 days of the month had an average temperature of 43.7°, 0.2 degrees milder than Jan. 2023.  (January 2023 missed meeting the same fate as Jan. 1932 by one day as below average temperatures arrived on Feb. 1.)

 

Here are previous January recaps (no recap was published for Jan. 2016).

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2015

2014


 

December 2022 Weather Recap: Rainy Month Ends With Wild Temperature Swings

 

 

December 2022 was the rainiest month of the year and also featured the coldest reading of all of 2022; this reading of 7° was the coldest temperature in December since 1989.  The month's s other stand-out weather story unfolded during its last nine days when there were wild swings in temperature.  Overall, the month's average temperature was 0.6 degrees below average (average high was just about average, while the average low was a degree below average.).

 

From 12/24 to 12/30 temperatures swung from 25 degrees below average (7° on 12/24) to 21 degrees above average (62° on 12/30).  But the wildest swing was on 12/23 when the mercury plunged 50 degrees between 4 AM and midnight, from 58° to 8°.  This was the greatest daily change in temperature on record (breaking a 101-year record, of 48 degrees in March 1921).

 

This was just the fourth December to be the wettest month of a year (the other years were 1957 <5.26">; 1973 <"9.98">; and 2019 <7.09">).  Although the amount of precipitation measured, 5.83", was 1.45" above average (making it the 20th wettest December on record), it was about three inches less than the average amount of a year's wettest month. 

 

Three rainstorms in December produced more than an inch of rain.  The last of them, on 12/22-23, produced the most, with 2.06" measured.  Much of the rain (1.33") came down in an hour when a blast of Arctic air collided with a fast-moving coastal storm in the pre-dawn hours of 12/23. 

 

Although a typical December averages nearly five inches of snow, this December had no measurable snow (LGA and Newark, however, had 0.4" and 0.1", respectively).  This was the 21st December with no snow and the 14th in which neither November or October had measurable snow (the previous time this happened was in 2015).

 

December had two days with lows in the 50s, which was the most such days since Dec. 2015 (the mildest December on record), which had 11.  This December also had seven days with highs of 55° or warmer, which was one less than Dec. 2021 (which was 4.3 degrees above average) and one more than 2020 (which was 1.7 above average).

 

Christmas Eve was sunny and bitterly cold (high/low of 15°/7°, with sub-zero wind chill) while one week later New Years Eve was mild (high/low of 55°/50°) and foggy with showers.  Christmas Day was sunny and cold (28°/14°) but relatively bearable compared to Christmas Eve.

 

Here are December recaps from the previous seven years:

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

 

 

 

 

       

Despite Very Mild Start, November 2022 Fails to Rank Among 10 Mildest Novembers

 

 

Never before has the month of November started with such a sustained string of unseasonably mild days.  With an average high/low of 68°/55° the first twelve days were eleven degrees above average.  This included five days in the 70s and three days with lows in the 60s.  Ten of the days had highs of 66° or warmer (including three in a row with highs of 75°+). 

 

The month’s warmest high and low of 77° and 66°, respectively, were warmer than October’s warmest (76° and 61°).  The reading of 77° on 11/7 was the warmest in November in 19 years, while only Nov. 1, 1971 had a warmer low in November than this November's.  Five days were fifteen degrees or more above average.

 

Despite this record-warm start, the month was denied a spot among the 10 mildest Novembers.  This was due to an eight-day streak of unseasonably chilly conditions mid-month (11/14-11/21) that was seven degrees colder than average (high/low of 44°/34°).  This included the fall’s first low of 32° or colder on 11/19 (31°).  Overall, the month was 2.9 degrees above average and finished as the 13^th mildest November on record (FYI, six of the top 10 are from this century).

 

The five days with highs in the 70s tied for fifth place for most in the month of November (November 1952 has the most - seven).  The three days with lows in the 60s were the most in November since 1975, which had four (the most).  However, November 2022 had five days with lows of 59° or milder -  the most of any November.

 

Another streak worth noting was one of eight days featuring sunny skies from 11/17 to 11/24; the last day fell on Thanksgiving Day.

 

The month’s rainfall of 3.15” was slightly below average.  This is the seventh time this amount has been reported as a monthly total.  The occurrence before this one was also in November, in 2013.  The month's rainiest day was 11/11, when 0.89" fell from the remnants of late-season hurricane Nicole.

 

The NYC Marathon on 11/6 had a high/low of 75°/66° making it the mildest of the races run in November (since 1986).

 

Although last November was 4.7 degrees colder than this November, this year's coldest reading was three degrees colder than November 2021 (27° vs. 30°).  Additionally, while November 2021 had 14 days that were five degrees or more below average, this year November had 14 that were five or more above average.

 

Here are November recaps from previous years:

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

 

October 2022 Weather Recap - Month's Overall Story Largely Determined In First 9 Days

 

Although it was just one degree chillier than average, October 2022 was the chilliest October since 2009.  This below average outcome was driven largely by the first nine days of the month, which were five degrees below average; the rest of the month was one degree above average.  Although the month was 1.0 degree below the 30-year average for October, it was 2.4 degrees cooler than Octobers since 2010 (and five degrees chillier than last October).

 

The month's rainfall of 5.08" made it the wettest month of the year (a low amount for this distinction since a year's wettest month  typically sees between seven and eight inches).  The last month with more precipitation was last October (5.26").  3.28" of the rain fell in the month's first five days (from the remnants of Hurricane Ian); then the rest of the month was drier than average.  The 1.85" of rain that fell on 10/4 tied 7/18 as the rainiest day of the year.

 

Despite the chill, the chilliest reading was just 42°; typically the chilliest reading is in the upper 30s.  Days with highs in the 70s occurred in three pairs: 10/6 & 10/7; 10/11 & 10/12; and 10/25 & 10/26.  10/6 had the warmest reading of the month, 76°.

 

Last fall, October had a record streak in the first half of the month, when 13 days in a row had lows in the 60s.  This October had only two lows this warm, and they didn't happen until 10/25 and 10/26.   

 

Finally, at the beginning of the month there were back-to-back days that were ten or more degrees chillier than average, and then there were two days in the closing week of the month that were ten or more degrees warmer than average.

• Oct. 3:   53°/47°: 13 degrees below average
• Oct. 4:   55°/46°: 11 degrees below average

• Oct. 25: 70°/61°  11 degrees above average
• Oct. 26: 72°/60°  12 degrees above average

 

Previous October recaps:

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

 

 

 

 

 

September 2022 Weather Recap: Largely Uneventful

 

 

September 2022 had close to average temperatures (+0.3 degrees) and rainfall that was just slightly below average (4.10").   Through 9/22 temperatures were two degrees above average, but then the following eight days were four degrees cooler than average.  11 days had mean temperatures that were very close to average (i.e., between one degree below and one degree above average), the most of any month since September 2016.  The month's biggest daily rainfall, 1.11" on 9/25, poured down in a little less than an hour.  (Ironically, 9/25 is one of the least likely dates of the year to report measurable rain.)

 

The spread between the month's coolest (49° on 9/24) and hottest readings (90° on 9/4) was 41 degrees, the widest spread in September since 2015.   Although the hottest and chilliest readings were 20 days apart, the days with the most above average and most below average mean temperatures were just four days apart (9/19, with a high/low of 85°/68° was nine degrees above average; 9/23, with a high/low of 63°/51°, was ten degrees below average).

 

The 90° reading on 9/4 was the 25th reading of 90+ of the year, making 2022 the 20th year with 25 or more (all since 1936).  Of these years, 2022's hot readings were "coolest", with an average of 91.8° (0.1 degree cooler than 1959, which had 27 days in the 90s).

 

Finally, what was likely the last low of 70° this year  occurred on 9/5.  The last time this occurrence was so early was in 2014.  (FYI, a low in the 70s in October has occurred in nine years since 1869.)  In total, 2022 had 50 days with lows of 70+; only eleven other years have had more (the most was 61 in 1906, and 60 in 2005).  

 

Here are are weather recaps from eight previous Septembers:

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

   

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

 

 

 

July 2022 - Just The Second July With Highs of 80+ On Every Day

 

 

A typical July in New York has six days with highs cooler than 80°.  However, July 2022 had no such readings and joined July 1944 as the only other July in which every day had a high of 80° or warmer (it also happened in August 2015).  The coolest high was 81°, which occurred twice.  Overall, July 2022 was two degrees warmer than average (high/low of 87.3°/71.8°) and ranks as the 13th hottest July on record; it had the 8th warmest low, and tied for 16th warmest high.  

 

The number of days with highs of 85° or warmer was 25.  Only five other Julys have had more (in 2019, 2010, 1993, 1966, and 1944) and four others have had 25.  The hottest reading was 95°, which occurred on three days, and the warmest low was 79°.  Of the ten Julys with 25+ days of 85+, July 2022 had the fewest days of 87+ as it had 10 highs of 85° (7) and 86° (3).  

 

 

The coolest low was 65° on the Fourth of July.  Only five other Julys have had a chilliest low this mild or milder (the most recent was two years ago when the coolest low of 67° was the mildest coolest July reading on record).

 

During the first half of the month it appeared July's big story would be the very dry conditions as just 0.33" of rain was measured in Central Park through 7/15 - the least to fall in the first half of July since July 2002.  And while a large portion of the metro area continued to suffer through dry conditions in the second half of the month (Newark's July total was just 0.55", JFK's was 1.10"), 4.22" fell in Central Park, which was double the typical amount.  As a result, July's total rainfall ended up being very close to average (0.05" below).  Much of the rain fell from isolated strong thunderstorms. The most to fall on one day, 1.85" on 7/18, was a record for the date. 

 

A six-day heat wave, from 7/19-24, was the longest since the summer of 2013.  The average high/low was 94°/77°.  In addition to these six days, there were four other days with highs in the 90s (on 7/1 and 7/12-14); the total of 10 was three more than average.  The hottest day of the month occurred on the last day of the heat wave, with a high of 95°/79°.  Two other days during the heat wave, 7/20 and 7/23, had  highs/lows of 95°/78°.  (In addition to the large disparity in rain compared to Central Park, Newark also had a reecord-setting five-day streak of triple-digit highs).

 

 

Typically, June averages six lows in the 70s/80s and July averages 16.  This summer the respective numbers were one and twenty-four.  This increase of 23 days compared to June is the greatest increase from any June with 0, 1 , or 2 lows in the 70s.  Only July 2020 and 2010 have had more lows in the 70s/80s than July 2022 (tied with three other years that had 24 such lows).

 

Finally, the 4.55" of rain that fell was the eighth time this amount was a monthly precipitation total.  The most recent occurrence was in April 2019, and there was another July with this amount in 1916. 

 

Here are July recaps from previous years:

July 2021

July 2020

July 2019

July 2018

July 2017

July 2016

July 2015

July 2014

 

  

June 2022 Weather Recap - Largely Uneventful, on the Dry Side

 

June 2022 was slightly cooler than average (-0.6 degrees), and rainfall of 2.92" was 1.62" below average.  The first half of the month was 1.4 degrees above average, the second half was 2.6 degrees below average (ironically, the month's four warmest highs and lows were all in the second half of June).  This was the third June in a row with less than three inches of rain, but this June had more than the previous two (2.62" in 2021, 1.76" in 2020).  More than 70% of the month's rain fell in the first nine days of the month; less than an inch fell in the last three weeks.  Other observations:

 

• The month's hottest reading was 90° on 6/25, which came six days after the coolest reading (54°).

 

• The warmest mean temperature came the day after the hottest high.  At 89°/74°, it was also the most above average day of the month (+7 degrees).  The low was the only low in the 70s during the month.
  

 

• Father's Day had the coolest low in  June (at 54°, it was the coolest reading on Father's Day since 1958).  And with a high of 73°, it was the first Father's Day in ten years not to have a  high of 80° or warmer.  A week later, the low on the day of the Gay Pride Parade, 74°, was the warmest of the month (and tied for second warmest low on Gay Pride Sunday).

 

• In between highs of 88° on 6/17, and 90° and 89° on 6/25 and 6/26, the seven days in between were six degrees cooler than average, with a high/low of 75°/60°.

 

• Every high temperature in June was between 71° and 90°, with the exception being 87°.

 

Here are June recaps from the previous six years:

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

 

 

 

 

May 2022 Weather Recap - Late First 80, Followed by Early First 90 & First 70

 

 

 

May 2022 was 0.8 degrees milder than average, and rainfall was somewhat above average (4.52").  The coolest reading was 45° on 5/7 and 5/8, the hottest was 93° on the last day of the month.  The last time the temperature was this hot in May was in 2000 (on 5/7); the last time it was hotter was in 1996 (96° on 5/20).   

 

The first 20 days of the month were about a degree below average, but then from May 21 onward temperatures were four above average.  For the entire month, eight days were five degrees or more warmer than average, four were five degrees or more cooler than average.  The most above average day was 5/22, with a high/low of 89°/72° (16 degrees above average); the most below average day was 5/7, with a high/low of 50°/45° (13 degrees below average).

 

The year's first reading of 80°+ occurred very late, on 5/21, the latest since 1988 and tenth latest on record; that date also had the year's first reading in the 90s, (90°),  just the fourth time that the first 80 and first 90 shared the same date.  Regarding days in the 90s, since 1960 Mays with two or more days with highs in the 90s occur about once every three years.  (Before 1960, it happened once every seven years.) 

 

The day after the first 80/90, Central Park had its first low in the 70s (72°), which was about two weeks ahead of schedule (the first 90 was about a week ahead of schedule). 

 

May's rainfall of 4.52" was 0.01" less than what fell in April.  This was the tenth time there was a 0.01" difference between consecutive months.  The previous time it occurred was in January and February 2016 when 4.41" and 4.40" was measured.  There have been five pairs of consecutive months with the same amount of precipitation (the last time it happened was in September and October 1997).

 

Finally, Memorial Day's high of 84° was the warmest reading on the holiday since 2015 (when it was 85°), while the high of 58° on Mother's Day (5/8), was the chilliest since 2018 (when it was 54°).

 

Here are recaps of the previous seven Mays:

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015