On This Date in New York City Weather History: January 2

 

1918 (Wednesday)

At 4 PM the temperature "rose" to 10°, ending a streak of 114 hours (since 10 PM on 12/28) in which the temperature was in the single digits or colder.  (However, the mercury returned to the single digits shortly thereafter.)

 

 1919 (Thursday)

Quite a contrast in how this year and last year started.  The first two days of 1919 had highs in the low 60s, while last year the first two days had highs of 10°. 

1925 (Friday)

A blizzard dumped close to a foot of snow (11.5").  The snow began falling around daybreak and lasted until 11 PM.  In addition to snow, there was also a period of heavy sleet in the early afternoon.  Temperatures throughout the storm were in the mid-20s; howling winds gusted between 35-40 mph, producing wind chills in the single digits.  After today's snowfall, there would be a snow cover of an inch or more in Central Park until 2/10. 

 

1931 (Friday)

This was the last day of an eleven-day stretch with highs that were between 33°-38°. 

1956 (Monday)

Temperatures were ten degrees colder than average for the past two weeks.  (There was one exception, Christmas Day, which had a high of 51°.) 

1985 (Wednesday)

Today's high of 58° was the mildest reading of the month, and the 13th day since Dec. 10 with a mean temperature 10 degrees or more above normal.  During this three-and-a-half-week period temperatures were 11 degrees above average - and only one day had a below average reading.   

1987 (Friday)

Temperatures were in the 30s all day, and a cold rain amounted to 1.65", with 1.02" falling between 2-5 AM.  For the entirety of the storm, which began yesterday evening, 2.23" was measured in Central Park. 

1996 (Tuesday)

Rain changed to sleet and snow during the evening, accumulating 1.7" by midnight.  This was the most snow to fall on Jan. 2 since 1925 (until 2014). 

1999 (Saturday)

Today's high of 25°/low of 9° made this the coldest day of the winter - and the coldest day of the past two years (since Jan. 19, 1997, when it was 20°/4°).   

2014 (Thursday)

A sprawling winter storm moved into the area during the evening, with snow beginning at 6:30 and continuing into the overnight hours.  In total, 6.4" inches fell, with the accumulation pretty much evenly distributed between the two days.  Besides snow and gusty winds, there was Arctic cold to contend with as the mercury fell from the upper 20s when the snow started to 18° by midnight (and down to 11° by daybreak on Jan. 3). 

2016 (Saturday)

With a high/low of 40°/32°, today's mean temperature was the coldest since late March.  And the morning low was the first to fall to 32° since Nov. 24.  Still, the day's mean temperature was three degrees above average, making this the 33rd day in a row with above average temperatures - the longest such streak on record (later broken during the winter of 2023 when there was a 35-day streak).  The previous record occurred in December/January 2007.