New York City Weather Archive

November 2018 Characterized By An Early Taste of Winter

After a mild start, with highs of 70°, 72° and 65° during the first three days of the month, the rest of November contended with unseasonably cold temperatures.  Overall, the month was 3.3 degrees below average, making it the coldest November in six years and the fifth coldest since 1960.  (Excluding the mild readings of Nov. 1-3, which were 11 degrees above average, the rest of the month was nearly five degrees colder than average.)

 

In addition to the unseasonable cold, November 2018 was also unusually wet, with half of its days reporting measurable precipitation.  With 7.62" measured this was the wettest November in 30 years - and the seventh wettest on record.  It was also the third month of 2018 to have more than seven inches of precipitation (the other two months were July and August), joining eight other years that have had three or more months with this much precipitation.  The crowning achievement of the month's rainfall occurred on 11/26 when the day's rainfall was enough to place 2018 among New York's ten wettest years (going back to 1869).  

 

Besides this excessive rainfall, the month will also be remembered for two other weather events: 1) the surprise afternoon/evening snowstorm of 11/15, which dumped 6.4" of snow, and 2) the bone-chilling cold on Thanksgiving Day and the day after. 

• The snowstorm of 11/15, the earliest date on record for a snowfall of six inches or more, snarled the evening rush hour in a big way for most commuters.  This was the greatest snowfall in November since 1938 (when 8.8 inches fell on Nov. 24-25).

• One week after the snowstorm Arctic air descended upon the region.  The high/low of 28/17 on Thanksgiving Day made it the coldest holiday since 1901.  And the following day the low fell to 15°, the coldest reading in November since 1932.  These cold readings, which would be well below average even during mid-winter, came near the end of a sixteen-day streak (Nov. 9-24) with below average readings that were nearly nine degrees colder than average.

 

Other November recaps:

2017

2016

2015

 

 

October 2018: Started Out Like September, Ended Like It Was November

Although October wasn't far from average in terms of its overall temperature, few would think of it as average as the first eleven days of the month had temperatures comparable to the start of September followed by nearly three weeks of temperature more like early November.  Through the 11th temperatures were ten degrees above average (high/low of 75/65), then the rest of the month was about twenty degrees colder (57/45), and four degrees below average.  Another contrast was between the departure from normal of the month's average high, which was a titch below average (-0.3 degrees), and the average low, which was nearly two degrees milder than average (+1.9 degrees).  Despite it being 0.8 degrees above average, this was the chilliest October in seven years.

 

Additional points of interest:

• Similar to August and September, the difference between October's average high and low (i.e., diurnal variation) was one of the smallest on record for October - 11.6 degrees (the average is 15.4 degrees).  In the past 100 years only October 2012 had a smaller variation.

• Just a year after the latest date for a low in the 70s occurred (on 10/9) a new mark was set this year when a low of 71° (five degrees warmer than the average high for the date) was reported on the 10th.

• The month was well above average in terms of days with lows of 60° or milder (eleven).  Only October 1879 (thirteen), 2012 (warmest October on record) and 2007 had more lows of 60+.  And this October's eleven days were consecutive (Oct. 1-11), which set a new October record and included five days in a row with mean temperatures that were ten or more degrees above average.  However, despite these balmy conditions just one day, 10/10, had a high in the 80s (80°).

• During the chilly portion of the month there were a dozen days with highs in the 50s, the most since 2009 (the typical number is eight).  And the number of lows in the 30s was three, the most since 2011 (the chilliest reading was 38°).

• The high of 64° on Halloween (five degrees above average) was the month's mildest reading since 10/15 and the first Halloween to have temperatures in the 60s in five years.

• Finally, much of October's 3.59" of rain (the smallest amount in five years) came from the remnants of catastrophic hurricane Michael on 10/11-12, which brought 1.27", and a nor'easter on 10/27 that produced 1.29".  On 10/20 the year's total precipitation passed 50 inches, and by the end of the month 51.42" had been measured, which is close to two inches more than what falls in a typical year.  This ranks as the the ninth greatest amount of precipitation (since 1869) through the end of October.

Here are recaps of previous Octobers:

2017

2016

August 2018 Weather Recap: Unusually Wet, With Unusually Warm Nights

July's rainy and warm conditions carried over into August, which was even warmer and wetter, ending up as the ninth warmest August on record and the twelfth wettest.  It was 2.9 degrees above average and warmer than July (something that's happened in 22% of the years since records began in 1869).  Despite August being warmer than July (by 0.5 degrees), July's average high was slightly higher (84.9 vs 84.3); it was August's average low that made it warmer overall (72.0 vs. 70.4).  In terms of rainfall, August's 8.59" was about an inch more than what was measured in July (7.45"), with much of it falling during heavy downpours during thunderstorms.  Here are additional observations worth noting:

 

• There were seven days in the 90s, which occurred during two heat waves - one was four days in length (8/5-8) and one lasted three days (8/28-30).  The four-day heat wave was one of the least impressive among those of this length. The hottest reading of the month was 94° on 8/28.  The coolest reading of the month, which was reported twice, was 65°, which tied August 2005 and 1906 for the mildest minimum temperature in the month of August.  The typical coolest low temperature in August is 59° (in the years since 1980).

• This was the thirty-second warmest August in terms of average high, but it had the fourth warmest average low.  (The low was 4.2 degrees above average, the high was 1.7 degrees above.)  This produced the ninth warmest August overall (tied with Aug. 1955, which was even rainier than this August, with nearly eleven inches measured).  Three of the past four Augusts have now placed among the ten warmest.

 

 

• Twenty-three days had lows in the 70s, tying August 1980 and 2005 for the most in the month of August (the typical number of such days is 13).  The month's first 18 days all had lows in the 70s, only the second time it's occurred, joining August 1988.  It appeared the City was going to set an August record for most lows of 70 or warmer, but it was not to be as the mercury fell to 69° the evening of 8/31.  On 8/29 the low of 81° established a new record for the latest date for a low in the 80s, smashing the previous record by two weeks (which occurred in 1985 and 1988).  This summer was just the eighth in which both July and August had average lows above 70° (two of the other summers were in 2015 and 2016).

• The month's diurnal variation (i.e., the difference between the high and low) was just 12.3 degrees, which was the smallest in August since 2000 (also 12.3 degrees).  The only variations smaller than this occurred more than 100 years ago, when eight Augusts in the years before 1911 had variances between 10.4 and 11.7 degrees (at the other end of the spectrum, the greatest diurnal variation in August is 20.4 degrees, which occurred in both 1964 and 1944.)

• This year has had the twelfth wettest August, the fourth wettest July-August, and the twelfth wettest summer.  Almost all of July and August's rain fell in a soggy six-week period (July 12 - Aug. 22).  Ironically, while August is the year's wettest month (so far), it also had the longest streak with no measurable rainfall - eight days, from the 23rd to the 30th.

 

 

Here are previous August recaps:

2017

2016

2015

 

 

 

July 2018 Weather Recap: Hot Temperatures, Followed by Torrents of Rain

If July 2018 were a cocktail its ingredients would be one part heat, three parts rain.  After a hot start, with temperatures nine degrees above average during the month's first five days (average high/low was 92/78), the rest of July was seasonably warm, which moderated the month's average temperature to 1.1 degree above average.  As for the rain, after a dry start, with just 0.24" measured through July 11, the skies opened up and the rest of the month was very rainy, with 7.21" measured.  With 7.45" in total this was the rainiest month in more than four years, since April 2014, and the rainiest July in fourteen (and the fourteenth wettest July on record).

 

In late July there were seven days in a row (July 21-27) in which measurable rain fell.  This was the fourth streak of six days or more this year, joining 1989 as the only two years since 1900 with four streaks of six days or longer.  (Besides the persistent rain, dew points throughout this week-long period were in the uncomfortable 72°-74° range.)

 

 

The seven-day streak with rain was the first since 2012, but this year's had considerably more rain (2.89" vs. 0.86").  The last streak of seven days or more with more rain was in May 2009, when 3.81" fell.

 

Downpours on 7/12 and 7/30 were confined to upper Manhattan; Central Park had 0.71" and 0.37", respectively, but my neighborhood, Greenwich Village, four miles south of the park, was dry.  And during the afternoon of 7/17 Manhattan was the bulls-eye for torrential rain from a severe thunderstorm, with 2.24" pouring down in little more than an hour.  Conversely, on 7/27 thunderstorms during late afternoon thru evening produced more than an inch of rain in most parts of the metro area (and 3-5" in parts of east-central NJ) but Central Park had only 0.25". 

 

July's rainfall in Central Park was considerably more than the three other reporting sites in the metro area:

 

 

 

Other July observations: 

• Four of the first five days in July had highs in the 90s; the only one that didn't was the 4th of July, but its high of 86° was the warmest reading on this holiday in five years.  However, due to its very warm low of 77°, the mean temperature was the warmest since 2010.

 

 

• Thirteen days in a row (July 8-20) had highs of 80° or warmer, the longest such streak since one of 19 days in August 2016.  (The record is 62 days in a row, set three years ago.)

• What was most impressive about the hot beginning to July were the low temperatures, all of which were 76° or warmer.  This happens almost as infrequently as five-day streaks with highs of 95°+.

• This was the ninth July in a row with no lows in the 50s, the longest such streak in the years since 1900.  Before 1980 more than half of Julys had at least one low in the 50s, but since 1980 that portion has fallen to 25%.

• By July 25 the month had picked up more rain than the combined amount in May and June (6.80" vs 6.64").

 

Here are links to previous July recaps:

2017

2016

2015

2014

 

May 2018 Weather Recap - Big Rebound From April

After suffering through the chilliest April in more than 40 years May reversed course and ranked among the ten warmest, ranking sixth (4.5 degrees above average).  The month's unseasonable warmth began right out of the gate as May 1 saw a high of 80° followed by back-to-back days with highs in the 90s.  This was one of the warmest beginnings to May on record (see chart below).  There were also three days later in the month with highs of 88° (5/17), 89° (5/26) and 89° (5/29).  The last time May had five days with highs of 88° or hotter was in 1991 (which was the warmest May on record). 

 

After the three previous months each had more than five inches of precipitation, May was drier than average, with 3.55" of rain measured.  However, there was a period in which seven days out of eight had rain (May 12-19); this included a severe thunderstorm on 5/15 that moved through during the evening rush hour (five people in the metropolitan area were killed by falling tree limbs).

 

Twelve days had highs of 80° or warmer, eight days were 10 degrees or more above average and three days had lows in the 70s.  And although May 2 and 3 had highs in the 90s, the most uncomfortable day was May 26, which had a heat index of 93° (its  high was 89°).  By contrast, May 2 and 3 had very low humidity and their "feels like" temperatures were lower than the air temperature.  Only six other Mays have had three or more lows in the 70s (since 1930), with two of them being in 2016 and 2015.

 

Balancing the two days in the 90s were two days with highs in the 50s - May 13 (Mother's Day) had a high of 54° and May 19 had a high of 56°.

 

Last May was just 3.9 degrees warmer than April, the second closet the two months have been  (closest was 3.5 degrees in 1945).  By contrast, this May was 17.4 degrees warmer than April, the seventh furthest from April (furthest was 18.1 degrees in 1944).  May is typically 9.3 degrees warmer than April.

 

 

 

Here are links to recaps of previous Mays: May 2017, 2016 and 2015.

 

April 2018 Weather Recap - Chilly, Snowy, Rainy

Like four of the past five months, April was colder than average.  (February, the mildest on record, was the outlier.)  This was the chilliest April since 1975, 3.5 degrees below average.  Eight days had mean temperatures ten degrees or more colder than average (and half of the month's days were five degrees or more below average).  Just three days had highs of 70°+, the fewest since April 2000.  Two of them were back-to-back: 82° and 77° on 4/13 and 4/14.  Earlier that week the month's coldest temperature, 32°, was posted on consecutive days, on-par with what the coldest reading is during a typical April (33°).  However, the number of days with highs chillier than 50° (nine) and lows in the 30s (sixteen) was well above average (three and five days, respectively). 

 

April was also a wet month, with 5.78" of precipitation measured, making it the third month in a row to receive more than five inches (5.83" fell in February, 5.17" in March).  The last time this occurred was August-October 2011.  More than half of the month's precipitation fell during a rainstorm on 4/15-16 that dropped 3.29", the biggest deluge since April 30, 2014.  Finally, Easter, which fell on 4/1, was sunny and pleasant, with a high of 60°.  However, 5.5" of snow fell the next morning (forcing postponement of the Yankees' home opener).  This was the biggest snowfall in April since 1982.

 

 

April 2018 was just one of three Aprils since 1970 to have an average temperature below 50.0 degrees (coming in at 49.5 degrees).  Before 1970, however, April temperatures this cool were much more common, with half of the Aprils between 1869 and 1969 being that chilly.  Therefore, when compared to all Aprils, this April ranks as 44th coolest overall.  Finally, March and April 2018 combined were the coldest first two months of meteorological spring since 1984, and the third coldest in the years since 1970.

 

For recaps of the past two Aprils double-click here: April 2017 and April 2016 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 2018 Weather Recap: Chronic Chill Follows Mildest February

For the second year in a row March was colder than February (both which were the mildest on record), a rarity that occurred just once before, in 1890 and 1891.  March 2018 will also be remembered for the four nor'easters that lashed the area in a three-week period as well as a 22-day streak with below-average temperatures.  This was the fifth March of the past six that was colder than average.  However, despite the chronic cold there were no Arctic outbreaks; the coldest low was just 27° (the coldest reading in March is typically in the upper teens) and the coldest high was 39° (the typical coldest high is around 32°).

 

FOUR NOR'EASTERS IN QUICK SUCCESSION

Nor'easter #1 (March 1-2) - This was a rain event, with 2.24" measured.  Colder air moved in as the storm exited in the early evening, briefly changing the rain to wet snow, but it didn't produce a measurable accumulation.

Nor'easter #2 (March 9) - This storm produced wet snow which accumulated 3.2" in the afternoon and evening.  Despite a prediction of 8-10" the accumulation was kept down because temperatures stayed above freezing.  Total liquid precipitation was 1.41".

Nor'easter #3 (March 13-14) - This was the least consequential of the storms.  Despite a prediction of significant snowfall there was no measurable accumulation, and just 0.36" of rain.  Curiously, Central Park was the only reporting site in the metro that didn't have measurable snow (JFK had 1.2" while LaGuardia and Newark both reported 0.3").

Nor'easter #4 (March 21-22) - This was the only storm of the four in which the temperature was 32° or colder for much of the duration.  As a result, a significant amount of snow, 8.4", piled up, making it one of the City's ten largest snowfalls after March 15. 

All but 0.11" of the month's 5.17" of precipitation came from these nor'easters.  This was the second month in a row with more than five inches of precipitation, the first time it happened since Dec. 2014/Jan. 2015.  The combined 11.00" that was measured was close to 50% above the average amount of precipitation for the two months (7.45").

 

MORE CHILLY THAN COLD

The 22-day streak with below average temperatures (March 7-28) is the fifth longest in the years since 1950.  But while it was one of the longest below-average streaks on record it wasn't a particularly cold one.  At 4.5 degrees below average it was the least below-average of any streak of 15 days or longer.  Another curious aspect about this March was that it shared some characteristics with Marches that were milder than average, i.e., very few lows in the 20s (just two), a coldest high that was around 40°, and no days that were ten degrees or more colder than average. 

Overall, March 2018 was 2.4 degrees colder than average, which was 1.8 degrees colder than February.  By comparison, March 2017 was 3.3 degrees below average and 2.4 degrees colder than February.  Typically, March is 6.2 degrees milder than February.

 

 

 

Other March recaps: 2017 and 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 2018 Pushes Past February 2017 to Become Mildest on Record

Some weather records for warmest and coldest month have been in place for decades.  For example, the warmest January, March and June have been on top since 1932, 1945 and 1943, respectively.  But this February was an extremely rare instance in which a new record broke the one that was  established just one year earlier (October 1946 also lost its crown 12 months later as did August and November 1895).  With an average temperature of 42.0, February 2018 was 6.7 degrees above average.  This was 0.4 degrees milder than Feb. 2017, and just 0.5 degrees below a typical March. 

 

The highlight of the month was the June-like high of 78° on 2/21.  Not only was it the eleventh time a 70-degree reading occurred in February, it was the warmest reading ever reported in February, besting the previous record (in 1930 and 1985) by three degrees.  (But within 24 hours the temperature fell into the more seasonable upper 30s.)  This was also the second February in a row with a high in the 70s - the only time this has happened.  Additionally, for the first time three Februarys in a row ('16, '17, '18) had five or more days with highs in the 60s or warmer.

 

 

Compared to last February, this February was also much wetter, with more than twice as much precipitation (5.83" vs. 2.48").  At one point during the month there was a stretch of twelve days (Feb. 14-25) in which every day but one had measurable precipitation, one of the greatest concentrations on record.  However, the amount of precipitation was a relatively modest 2.01", which was just a little more than what fell from the rainstorm of Feb. 10-11 (1.79").

 

There were 17 days of measurable precipitation, tying it with February 1884 as the most ever for the month.  However, despite this high frequency the month didn't rank among the ten wettest (nor did Feb. 1884, which had an inch less precipitation than 2018).  However, it still had nearly twice as much precipitation than average (5.83" vs. 3.04") and ranks as thirteenth wettest February (placing it among the top 10% of the years since 1869).  Lastly, this was the wettest February in eight years.

 

There were a few touches of winter during the month, with the coldest day, on 2/3, having a high/low of 31/16 (coldest day of the month).  In total there were eight days with colder than average mean temperatures (two more than Feb. 2017).  4.4" of snow fell on 2/17 despite the temperature not being 32° or colder while the snow was falling.  This snowfall came at the end of a week that had three days with highs in the low 60s and was followed a few days later by days with highs of 67° and 78°.

 

 

February 1998, which shared the title of mildest February with 1984, and later 2002, until 2012, still has the mildest average low temperature of any February, 0.4 degrees warmer than either February 2018 or 2017.

 

 

From Feb. 11 thru Feb. 28 temperatures were eleven degrees above average.  Last February, during the very same period, temperatures were nine degrees above average.

 

Finally, February's record warmth came just four months after the warmest October on record and one month after New York experienced one of its longest stretches of high temperatures of 32° or colder (fourteen days).  And just three years ago one of the coldest Februarys on record had an average high that was more than two degrees colder than this February's average low (32.1 vs 34.5). 

 

Other recaps of past Februarys:

February 2017

February 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 2018 Weather Recap - Early Cold Wave Followed by Three Uneventful Weeks

January began the way December ended - bitterly cold.  A nearly unprecedented cold wave of fourteen-days, all with highs colder than 32°, began on Dec. 26 and continued through Jan. 8.  But after shivering through the first eight days of the month, which were 16 degrees colder than average (the coldest start of a year since 1968), the remainder of the month was almost five degrees above average (but there were three days with highs of 32° or colder and one with a high of 33°).  This milder stretch of days resulted in the month being just slightly below average (-0.9 degree).  For the entire month there were sixteen days that were either ten degrees or more above or below average (there were eight of each), the most in January since 2004.  Finally, not only were the first eight days frigid, but a snowstorm on Jan. 4 dumped nearly ten inches of snow on the City (then just 1.4" fell in the next four weeks).  Here are some other observations: 

 

• The month was on the dry side, with 2.18" of precipitation measured, comparable to what fell in November (1.58") and December (2.21").  The three months received about half of the typical amount of precipitation (5.96" vs. 11.67").  Additionally, the past seven months have all had below average rainfall.

• December/January combined were the coldest in seven years, since the winter of 2010-11.

• Jan. 6 was the coldest day of the cold wave, with a high/low of just 13/6.  And while Feb. 14, 2016 had a colder mean temperature (high/low of 15/-1), 1/6's high was the coldest since Jan. 16, 1994, when it was just 10°.  Then five days after the low was 5° on 1/7 (22 degrees below average), the high on 1/12 soared to 61° (23 degrees above average).

• On Jan. 15 the high of 30° was the nineteenth of the winter that was 32° or colder, the most by mid-January since the winter of 1981.  (The typical number for an entire winter is seventeen.)  In the past 100 years only three winters had more freezing or colder high temperatures by 1/15: 1977 (25), 1918 (23) and 1981 (21).

• January and December both had eight days with highs of 50° or milder, but January had more days of 55+ (five vs. three) and 60+ (two vs. one).

• Although January's temperature was below average this was due to the low temperature being 2.2 degrees colder than average.  The average high was actually 0.4 degrees above average.  This 2.6-degree disparity between the high and low was the greatest since 1994, when it was 3.0 degrees (the high was 4.4 degrees below average and the high was 7.4 degrees below).

 

 

Here are links to previous January recaps: 

January 2017

January 2015

January 2014

 

 

 

December Weather Recap - 2017 Ends With Harsh Cold Wave

Although 2017 featured two months, February and October, that were the warmest on record, the year may be best remembered for December's Arctic outbreak that moved in on Christmas Day and stayed locked in place through the first week of 2018.  On Dec. 28 the high/low of 18/11 made it the coldest day of the year (based on mean temperature), followed on Dec. 31 by the coldest temperature of the year, when the mercury fell to 9° shortly before the ball-drop in Times Square.  The last five days of the month had highs of 25° or colder, the first streak of this length since January 2004.  Here are some other observations:

 

• The first six days of December were six degrees above average while the final six days were 15 degrees below average.  Overall the month was 2.5 degrees colder than average and was the coldest December in seven years (and the third coldest in 20 years).  Until the Arctic front moved through on Christmas Day the month had close to average temperatures.
  

• For the first time since 2002 December was the coldest month of the year, just the 15th time since 1900 that this has happened.  
  

• The month had 2.21" of precipitation, joining three other months in 2017 with less than 2.50" of precipitation.  This was the driest December since 2006 (when 2.15" was measured).  The biggest rainfall, 0.75", was on Dec. 5, pouring down that night.  This was also the mildest day of the month, with a high/low of 61/50.

• Measurable snow fell on four days, totaling 7.7".  The first snowfall, on Dec. 9, was the biggest, with 4.6" measured.

• In addition to the Arctic outbreak at the end of the month, there was a cold snap mid-month that had three days in a row with highs of 32° or colder (Dec. 13-15).  During this outbreak there were two 1.2" snowfalls on consecutive days (Dec. 14 and 15).

• The month's nine days with highs of 32° or colder was the most in December since 2000 (which, like this December, ended with an extended Arctic outbreak, the second longest on record, that lasted 13 days, from Dec. 22 to Jan. 3).

• The six-day streak with highs of 32° or colder is behind eight streaks in December of seven days or longer.

 

• Finally, the high of 18° on Dec. 28 was just the fifth time since 1960 that there was a high in the teens in December.

 

Here are other December recaps:

December 2016

December 2015