Today in New York City Weather History: January 17

1893 (Tuesday)

Today was the seventh day in a row with a high only in the teens.  The average high/low during this streak was 17°/8°.  This streak of bitter cold was embedded in a 13-day streak with highs of 30° or colder. 

1965 (Sunday)

For the third day in a row the high was only in the teens.  At 16°, today's high was the coldest (following highs of 17° and 19° the previous two days). 

 

1970 (Saturday)

With a high/low of 47°/32°, this was the first day in four weeks that was warmer than average.  (It was also the first day since 12/29 to have a high above 40°, and the first day this year with a low above 25°.)  During these four weeks, temperatures were eight degrees below average.  Another shot of Arctic air would arrive tomorrow afternoon, plunging the City back into the deep-freeze for eight more days (with temperatures thirteen degrees colder than average).  

1977 (Monday)

With a frigid high of just 12°, and a low of 2° below zero, today was not only the coldest day of the winter, but one of New York's coldest days in the second half of the century. 

 

1982 (Sunday)

From an already frigid 19° just after midnight, the temperature fell all day and by midnight the thermometer at Central Park's weather station reported a reading of 0°.  This outbreak came just five days after another Arctic plunge had produced lows in the single digits for three days running. 

1985 (Thursday)

For the fifth year in a row the high temperature on this date was 32° or colder.  Also, 4.1" of snow fell during the morning, the biggest snowfall of the month. 

1994 (Monday)

A winter storm predicted for today drew in more mild air than expected, resulting in a mostly rain event (after starting as a brief period of snow that accumulated 1.3").  1.34" of precipitation fell in total, a record for the date.  (This was also the first time an inch or more of precipitation fell on this date.)  The temperature rose from 12° shortly after midnight to 47° by early afternoon, and began tumbling later on as an Arctic air mass moved in. 

 

2013 (Thursday)

Today was the 14th day in a row with above average temperatures.  During this two-week period (which included six days in a row with temperatures 10 degrees or more above average), the average high/low was 45°/36°, nine degrees above average.  This followed a 19-day streak of above average temperatures in December.   

2016 (Sunday)

Snow showers during the afternoon brought the first accumulating snow of the winter, amounting to 0.4".  This was about one month later than the average date of New York's first snowfall, and the sixth latest date on record (now ranked seventh - all of these late dates have occurred since 1966.)  

 

 2022 (Monday)

1.53" of precipitation fell during a winter storm that moved in yesterday evening, beginning as snow for a few hours (accumulating 0.8"), then continuing as rain until mid-morning today (when 1.16" fell).  This  was more than what fell in either November (1.12") or December (1.39").  Furthermore, this storm's 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. 

2024 (Wednesday)

With a high/low of 24°/17°, today would be the coldest day of the winter, one of the ten mildest coldest days of any winter.  (Since 1980, the average high/low of the coldest day of a winter has been 20°/8°).  And only the winter of 2002 had a milder reading for a winter's coldest reading (20°). 

However, this would not be the coldest day of the year, as 12/22 would have a high/low of 21°/13°.