Today in New York City Weather History: February 28

1895 (Thursday)

This was the only day of this very cold month (the second coldest February at the time, now ranked fourth) with a low above freezing.  And it was the first above freezing low since 1/16. 

1942 (Saturday)

Today's low of 29° was the last reading at freezing or colder this winter - the earliest date on record (and it still stands), breaking the 1931 record by fourteen days.  (There would be four days in March and one in April with lows of 33°.) 

 

1949 (Monday)

Two weeks after a record-high of 73°, nine inches of snow fell (and an additional 0.4" fell past midnight on 3/1).  This was the winter's second biggest snowfall (biggest was 16 inches on 12/20), and the fourth that was more than five inches. 

1954 (Sunday)

Today's unseasonably mild high/low of 59°/41° was typical of temperatures in the second half of the month.  At 14 degrees above average, the past two weeks' high/low of 56°/38° was more typical of the first week of April.  No day during this two-week period had a temperature that fell below freezing.  (At the time, this February was the mildest on record, but has since fallen to ninth place.) 

1981 (Saturday)

After an extremely dry December and January, February was the wettest since 1939.  (Interestingly, December and January each received the same meager amount of precipitation - 0.58").  Nearly four inches of rain fell in the past week-and-a-half, more than the previous thirteen weeks combined.  (6.04" fell in total.) 

1998 (Saturday)

This was the mildest February on record, seven degrees above average (now ranked fifth).  It also had no reported snowfall - the only February to hold this distinction.  This followed an equally mild January, which was 8.5 degrees above average.  And the mild trend continued today, with temperatures 11 degrees above average.    

2002 (Thursday)

The very mild temperatures in January and February were as mild as those in 1998.  In both years the mean temperature was 40.0 degrees in January and 40.6 degrees in February.   

2007 (Wednesday)

This was the coldest February since 1979, 6.3 degrees below average.  However, despite the cold conditions just 3.8" of snow fell.  Today was one of the handful of days with above average temperatures. 

 

2008 (Thursday)

Today's high of 28°/low of 18° was fifteen degrees colder than average.  

2014 (Friday)

This morning's frigid low of 9° (22 degrees below average) was the latest date for a reading in the single digits since 1967, when the low on 3/19 was 8°. 

 

2015 (Saturday)

The coldest February since 1934 ended, fittingly, on very cold note with a high/low of 29°/13° under mostly clear skies.  This was the fifteenth day this month with a high of 32° or colder and the sixteenth that was ten degrees or more below average.  Besides being the third coldest February on record, it was the tenth coldest of any month.