GRAPHICAL
CLIMATOLOGY OF NEW YORK CENTRAL PARK DAILY
TEMPERATURES, PRECIPITATION, AND
SNOWFALL (1876-PRESENT)
By Charles
Fisk* Last Update: 16
November 2009
The following is a visual climatology of
New York Central Park temperatures, precipitation, and snowfall, from January
1876 into the current year 2009. The graphics consist of summary overview
charts followed by year-to-year plots that depict daily temperature ranges,
precipitation, and snowfall.
Data sources were the NCDC Cooperative
Summary of the Day TD3200 CD-ROM, the International Station Meteorological
Climate Summary (Version 3.0, 1995) CD-ROM, and the New York City weather
service office’s on line site:
http://www.weather.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=okx
CLIMATE
OVERVIEW GRAPHS –
TEMPERATURE:
NEW YORK CENTRAL PARK DAILY
TEMPERATURE MEANS & EXTREMES (FOR 1876-2008) 
COMPLETE
YEAR JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
OTHER NEW YORK CENTRAL PARK TEMPERATURE STATS:
NEW YORK
CENTRAL PARK ANNUAL MEAN TEMPERATURE HISTORY (1876-2008)
AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE
RANGE, BY CALENDAR DAY
NEW YORK CENTRAL
PARK PRECIPITATION:
NEW YORK
CENTRAL PARK AVERAGE PRECIPITATION, BY CALENDAR MONTH
NEW YORK CENTRAL PARK YEARLY
PRECIPITATION HISTORY (1869-2008)
NEW YORK CENTRAL
PARK SNOWFALL:
NEW YORK CENTRAL PARK AVERAGE
SNOWFALL, BY CALENDAR MONTH
NEW YORK CENTRAL PARK SEASONAL
SNOWFALL HISTORY (1869-70 THRU 2008-09 SEASONS)
NEW YORK CENTRAL PARK
ONE-HALF, ONE, TWO, and THREE-INCH SNOW-DAY FREQUENCIES, BY CALENDAR DAY
NEW YORK CENTRAL PARK MEAN
AND RECORD MAXIMUM SNOW DEPTHS, BY CALENDAR DAY
NEW YORK LAGUARDIA AIRPORT CLIMOGRAMS :
MEAN HOURLY TEMPS & REL
HUM THUNDERSTORM
FREQS FOG/HAZE FREQS WINDS FLYING
WEATHER/CEILINGS
YEAR-TO-YEAR
GRAPHS
The uppermost chart on a given yearly page (links below) are
“floating-bars” of the daily maxima and minima. Each bar represents an
individual day’s temperature range.
Superimposed are two line traces, the upper (lower) one connecting 1876
to present average daily maxima (minima).
The bars depict the
varying diurnal, synoptic, long-wave, and seasonal influences on temperature
over time, and some years’ visual features, subjectively, can be quite
interesting to look at (see “LINKS TO SOME OF THE MORE INTERESTING YEARS WITH
ACCOMPANYING NOTES” section below).
The second chart down shows the
arithmetic departures of day-to-day mean temperatures (sum of the daily maximum
plus the daily minimum divided by two) less the corresponding 1876-present
calendar-day average means. Vertical
lines extending upward from the zero line indicate above average means for the
day (colored red), those extending downward indicate below average daily means
(colored blue). In the entire series,
greatest positive departure for any given calendar day is +31 F for 5 February 1991, the greatest negative
departure -38 F for 30 December 1917.
YEAR-TO-YEAR
GRAPHS - LINKS
1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The third chart down shows the
second chart’s departures in deseasonalized or
“standardized” form. This adjusts for the fact that individual calendar days
have higher or lower year-to-year variability in temperature (and departures). To deseasonalize, the departures are divided by the
corresponding calendar day mean temperature standard deviations to create
standardized departures, or “z-scores”. Standardized departures of plus or
minus 3.0 are rare, observed on only 0.2% of the days over the 1876-2008 period
(51 positives and 26 negatives). Interestingly, 19 of these 51 positives (37%)
are concentrated over the narrow, contiguous 31 March to 18 April span of days,
just 19/365 or 5.2 % of the year. As of 2008, the most extreme positive
standardized departure produced is +4.2 for 17 April 2002, the most negative
–3.8 for 9 February 1934.
The fourth chart down depicts daily
rainfall, the fifth and sixth charts, respectively, showing daily snowfall and
snow depths. Central Park snow depth data was unavailable for 1996 thru late
2000, so those for the nearby LaGuardia airport station are substituted.
LINKS TO SOME OF THE MORE INTERESTING YEAR-TO-YEAR GRAPHS, WITH
ACCOMPANYING NOTES -
1876 - In an otherwise cold year,
very warm over mid-June to mid-July.
1879 - Great gyrating warm and cold spells over late-September
through year-end.
1882 - September wettest calendar month (16.85”) in Central Park
history.
1885 - Cold January to March.
1888 - Coldest year in New York Central Park history (1869-Present).
1894 - Highly fluctuating temperature anomaly pattern through
course of year.
1895 -
Another year of highly
irregular temperature anomaly fluctuations.
1896 - Very cold March with 31” snow, but very forward April and
May.
1899 - Historic February cold wave brushes NYC, preceded by 16”
snowstorm.
1900 - Quasi-periodic two to three-week above normal spells over
August through November.
1903 -
Very mild March, but
coolest summer (June-August) on record (1869-Present). 11.63 inches’ rain over
8-9 October.
1905 - Persistent anomalous cold over late January into mid-March.
1907 - Unseasonably cool mid-May to mid-June.
1917 - Cold year except for hot mid-July through August. Minus 13
on 30 December – record coldest temperature to date.
1917-18 - Coldest meteorological winter (December-January) on record in
New York (1869-present).
1925 - Hot spell in early June with near 100 F temperatures.
1929 - Near 90 F temperatures in early April, then sharply colder.
1930 - Highly fluctuating temperature anomaly pattern through
course of year.
1931 - Warmest year to date in New York.
1931-32 - Warmest meteorological autumn (September-November) in all New
York history followed by mildest meteorological winter (December-January) until
2001-02.
1934 - Coldest calendar month (February) in New York history
(1869-Present) with all-time coldest daily minimum (-15 F). Also
snowiest February (27.9”).
1936 - Very cold from mid-January to mid-February, but 106 F in
July, highest recorded New York Central Park maximum in history (1869-Present).
1938 - 4.05” rain dropped on 21 September, landfall of “Long
Island Express” Hurricane. Very mild mid-October to
mid-November.
1939 - For World’s Fair, very warm from mid-July thru
late-August
1941 - Sudden burst of summer-like temperatures in mid-April.
1944 - 9.40” rain over 12-14 September.
1945 – Unseasonably mild February through mid-April, then unseasonably
cool through early June.
1947-48 – Warmest October in New York history (1869-Present) followed
by snowiest winter (63.2”) up to this time. Twenty-five
inches depth on 27 December and at least six inches’ depth from 26 December
thru 15 February (62 days).
1948 – Three consecutive 100 F plus days in late August.
1949 – Warmest year to date in New York by more than 1 F. June
driest calendar month in history (0.02”)
1953 – Warmest year to date in New York. Prolonged
heat wave over late August/early September; 102 F on 2 September.
1955 – Hot Summer.
1960 – Second coldest March of twentieth century in New York (to
1916).
1961 – Warmest September on record in New York.
1964 – Driest year on record in New York up to this time (32.99”).
1965 – Back-to-back record dry years for New York – 1965’s annual
total (26.09”), 21% less than record-setting 1964’s.
1966 - Warmest summer (June-August) in New York on record; 5.54
inches’ rain on 21 September.
1973 – Late August/Early September heat wave (eight straight days
of 90 F or higher temperatures).
1976 – Mid-April Heat Wave - temperatures in mid-90’s.
1977 – Cold January; 9.19” rain over 7-8 November.
1978 – Cold January and February; 34 inches’ snowfall in January
(record for any calendar month) and 23 inches in February.
1979 - Cold February, record mild November.
1980 - Very warm from early July into early September.
1983 - Wettest calendar year in history (80.56”) in New York by more
than 13 ½ inches.
1984 - Hot Early June, mild October-December.
1988 - Hot summer.
1989 - Coldest December in New York since 1917.
1990 - Warmest year in New York history.
1991 - Ties 1990 for warmest year in New York history. Warmest
meteorological Spring (March-May) since records
commenced.
1995 - Very warm July and August. Just 0.28” rain from 29 July
through 16 September (50 days).
1995-96 - 1995-96 winter snowiest (75.6”) in history; 20.2” on 7-8
January.
1998 - Second warmest year in history. Five straight
80 F or higher days in March.
1999 - Warmest calendar month (July) in New York history.
2001-02
- Mildest winter (December-February) in all New York history. November 2001 also warmest on record.
2003 - Coldest
year since 1978.
2004 - Wettest
September (11.51”) since 1934.
2005 - Wettest October (16.73”) in New York
history, second wettest calendar month in history
(to Sept. 1882 - 16.85”)
2006 -
26.9” snowstorm over 11th-12th heaviest ever for single storm.
*Member, American Meteorological Society
mailto:CJFISK@worldnet.att.net
Links
to other sites:
Link to Graphical History of Chicago
Daily Temps & Precip (1870's to Present)
Link to Graphical History of
Minneapolis-St. Paul
Daily Temps, Rainfall, & Snowfall (1820-Present)
Link
to Graphical History of Downtown Los Angeles Daily Temps and Rainfall
(1921-Present)