JANUARY
1 - It was a rainy and mild start to the new year, with a high/low of 56°/50°, and 0.79" of rain (most of which fell after dark). This was the first low of 50° or milder on 1/1 since 1979, and just the third time overall with a low in the 50s on this date. The high of 56° was the tenth warmest reading (tied with 2007). After a record dry November and December, today was the rainiest day since late in October.
7 - A fast-moving winter storm produced 5.8" of snow, most of it falling before sunrise. This was the winter's first snowfall of one-inch or more, coming about two weeks later than the average date of this occurrence. Curiously, although Central Park and LaGuardia Airport (which are just seven miles apart) had similar amounts of liquid precipitation (0.38" and 0.33", respectively), CPK's accumulation of snow was 3.9" less than LGA's (9.7").
With today’s snowfall, the month’s precipitation for the first week of January reached 1.44”, which was.05” more than what fell in all of December.
8 - With a high/low of 30°/20°, today had the winter's first high of 32° or colder. This was three weeks later than the typical date, and was the latest date for this occurrence since the winter of 1986-87, when it happened on 1/20. This "first of the winter" milestone happened the same week as the first low in the teens (1/4), and the first snowfall of an inch or more (1/7).
15 - With a high/low of 21°/10,° today was the coldest day of the winter. The day's low was the coldest reading in Central Park in nearly three years, since a low of 2° on Jan. 31, 2019. (10° is on par with the average coldest temperature of winters going back to 1990.) At sunrise, wind chills were in the 0° to -5° range. Tomorrow's low would also be 10° (but with a high that was 16 degrees warmer than today's).
17 - 1.53" of precipitation fell during a winter storm that moved in yesterday evening, beginning as snow for a few hours (accumulating 0.8"), and then continuing as rain until mid-morning today (when 1.16" fell). The storm's total was was more than what fell in either November (1.12") or December (1.39"). Furthermore, this amount of precipitation doubled what had fallen in the first 15 days of January, and at 3.07" in total, was more than what fell in November and December combined.
29 - Snow that began after 8 PM last night continued thru mid-afternoon, accumulating 8.3". The 7.3" that fell today was a record for the date and was the first snowfall of an inch or more on 1/29 since 1973. Visibility was less than 1/2 mile for much of the morning. The temperature dropped sharply overnight from upper 20s to mid-teens after daybreak; winds that gusted between 25-35 mph produced wind chills of 0° to 5° above zero. This snowstorm had the coldest temperatures since the snowstorm of Jan. 21, 2014 , when 11.5" piled up and temperatures dropped to the low teens in the final hours of the storm. Today was the 4th consecutive day with a high of 32° or colder, the longest streak in Central Park since the winter of 2018, when there was a 14-day streak (Dec. 26-Jan. 8).
The City was spared much worse conditions as it was on the western edge of an intense nor'easter that brought blizzard conditions and 15"-30" of snow to Long Island and southeastern New England.
FEBRUARY
5 - The temperature at daybreak was 21°, which was a drop of 36 degrees from yesterday's high reading of 57° that occurred in the morning. The last time the City experienced a drop this great in such a short period of time (25 hours) was in April 2018, when the mercury fell from 77° during the afternoon of 4/14, to 38° at daybreak on 4/15.
13 - 1.6" of snow fell the day after the high reached 59°. And although it was quite a turnaround, it pales in comparison to Feb. 9, 2017, when a 9.4" snowfall followed a high of 62° the day before. And on Feb. 3, 2014, 8.0" fell the day after a high of 56°. This was the second year in a row in which snow fell on Super Bowl Sunday. 4.5" fell last year, which was the most to fall on the NFL's big day (the game was played on 2/7); this year's amount was the second biggest accumulation.
17 - Today had the year’s first reading in the 60s. At 68° it was the warmest reading in three months (since 11/18), and a record for the date. The last time a reading this mild happened in February was in 2018, when the mercury soared to 78° on 2/21 (the warmest temperature ever reported in February). Today’s spring-like reading, 25 degrees above average, came just two days after a low of 16°. (There was also a low of 16° on 2/14, two days after a high of 59°.)
23 - For the second time in past six days the high reached 68°; however, unlike 2/17’s high, today’s was not a record. Then after dark, a cold front moved through, and the temperature dropped to the mid-30s by midnight (however, there was no precipitation). This was the third day this month with a diurnal variation of 30 degrees or more - just the second February with three or more such days (February 1918 had four).
MARCH
7 - The temperature rose into the 70s, topping out at 74°, tying the record for the date. This followed another record tying high yesterday (68°), and was the first reading in the 70s this year, about two weeks ahead of schedule (by contrast, the first day in the 60s, on 2/17, was two weeks behind schedule). The temperature was still at 71° at 10 PM, when a cold front blew through with winds that gusted to 49 mph in Central Park. Today's reading was the fourth high of 68+ in the past three weeks, joining 2/17, 2/23, and 3/6 (which all had highs of 68°).
9 - It was a sloppy day with wet snow occasionally mixed with rain and temperatures that hovered between 33° and 35°. The 0.56" of liquid that fell (between 8:30 AM and 6 PM) produced just 0.4" of snow - but this was more snow than what fell in March 2020 or 2021 (both saw only a trace).
22 - On average, relative humidity in March between 2PM and 9PM is in the 55%-60% range, but today it was between 11% and 13%. Only four other dates in the 21st century have had lower readings: 6% on March 30, 2007; 7% on April 6, 2021; 9% on April 20, 2016; and 10% on April 20, 2006. Skies were sunny and temperatures above average for the ninth day in a row (high/low of 58°/43°). This was the fifth day in the past four weeks to have an hour or more with humidity at 25% or lower.
28 - An Arctic front moved through last night, and today's high/low of 33°/23° would have been cold even in the depths of winter. Although the day's low was far from the record for the date (13°), the high broke the record from 1893 for coldest daily maximum. This was the coldest high temperature this late in March/early April in 40 years, since April 7, 1982, when the high/low was 30°/21°. Today had the coldest mean temperature of the month as well as the past six weeks (0.5 degree colder than 3/13, which had a high/low of 35°/22°, and 2/20, which had a high/low of 36°/21°).
Making the cold even more biting was the wind, which gusted between 20-30 mph. Finally, the air was quite dry, with afternoon humidity falling to 20%; dew points were in the -5° to +5° range throughout the day.
APRIL
7 - Rain moved in at around noon and continued for the rest of the day. 1.12" was measured , with a large portion of it (0.40") falling between 11 PM-midnight (an additional 0.04" fell on 4/8). Meanwhile, suburbs in northern NJ, the Hudson River valley, and western Connecticut reported between two and four inches. Besides the rain, it was also windy, with gusts between 20-30 mph. This inclement weather forced the Yankees to postpone their home opener - the fifth home opener postponed since 2003.
8 - The day after rain postponed the Yankees' home opener, today's rescheduled game was played under sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s (the high of 65° was the mildest reading so far this month). Additionally, the air was quite dry, with the relative humidity dropping to 23% in mid-afternoon. (Perhaps best of all, the Yankees beat their arch-rivals, the Red Sox, in extra innings.)
15 - Conditions for the Mets home opener were a near replica of last week's Yankees first game as skies were sunny and the day's high reached 70°. And the visiting team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, probably felt at home because of the very low humidity, which dropped to 13% when the first pitch was thrown. But the hospitality ended there as the Mets easily won the game, 1o-3. Today was the fourth day in a row with readings in the 70s - the first time for a streak of this length since late September.
16 - Today, with a high of 73°, was the fifth day in a row with a high of 70°+. The average high during this streak was 73°, 12 degrees above average. The last time there was a streak of this length in April was eleven years ago (but it occurred 12 days later than this April's streak).
17 - With a high/low of 51°/41°, this was the chilliest Easter Sunday since 2009 (49°/36°). This followed five consecutive days with highs in the 70s. And similar to last Easter, the air was quite dry, with the humidity bottoming out at 25% in mid-afternoon.
19 - A fast-moving nor'easter that moved in late last night was over by daybreak today. 2.09" of rain poured down, mostly between 10 PM and 3 AM. Winds gusted to 37 mph at Central Park, with 45-65 mph gusts common on Long Island and in Connecticut. This was the biggest rain total from a storm system since a nor'easter dumped 3.53" of rain nearly six months ago (on 10/25-26 ).
28 - For the second time this spring humidity in the middle of the afternoon dropped to 11% (the other day was 3/22; 4/15 had humidity of 13%). The day also featured clear skies, gusty winds (25-35 mph), and temperatures that were ten degrees below average (high/low of 58°/40°).
MAY
9 - It was a day with very low humidity, which bottomed out at 13% at 1o PM - the lowest humidity reported for this time of day in the years since 2000 (daily humidity is usually lowest mid-afternoon). Additionally, this was the seventh day this year with humidity falling to 15% or below, which is the greatest number of days going back to 2000 (breaking a tie with 2021). Furthermore, this was the lowest humidity reported in May. Finally, humidity of 15% between midnight and 2 AM on 5/10 was the lowest humidity reported so early in the day.
21 - At long last the temperature reached the 80s for the first time this year, the latest date for this occurrence since 1988. This is the tenth latest date for this occurrence on record. And with a high of 90°, this was just the fourth year to have the first 80 and first 90 occur on the same day (joining 1918, 1927 and 2010). This was the first time a reading was in the 90s in May since 2018. Besides the heat, the air was oppressive, with afternoon dew points in the 68-70° range. The morning low of 62° was the coolest on a day with a high in the 90s since 2010, when there was a low of low of 56° on 4/7 (the earliest date on record for a reading in the 90s).
22 - The day after the year's first high in the 90s, today had the first low in the 70s. Today missed by one degree becoming the first May weekend since 1987 with both days having highs of 90+ (only five May weekends have had this happen; 1987’s is the hottest of them, with highs/lows on May 30 and 31 of 97°/74° and 94°/76°).
This weekend's unseasonably warm temperatures were similar to the same weekend last May, with this year’s highs/lows being 90°/62° and 89°/72°, while last year’s (on May 22 and 23) were 89°/65° and 88°/68°.