Today in New York City Weather History: April 8

1871 (Saturday)

Today's high of 85°, the warmest reading of the month, came just two days after a low of 33°, which was the chilliest reading of the month (tied with 4/2).  It would be another seven weeks before the next reading of 85° or warmer occurred. 

1956 (Sunday)

Rain from yesterday's nor'easter turned to snow after 4 AM and by late afternoon 4.2" of snow was on the ground in Central Park - yet the temperature never got lower than 33°.  This was the third significant snowfall in the past four weeks, a period in which 25" of snow fell, an unprecedented amount for so late in the season.  Up until mid-March the winter had seen just eight inches.  Not surprisingly, this snowy period was also cold, with temperatures six degrees below average. 

1970 (Wednesday)

At 69°, today was the first day this year with a high of 60° or warmer - the latest date for this occurrence in the 1970-2015 era.  The last time it was this warm was nearly six months earlier (Oct. 20). 

1975 (Tuesday)

Today, with a chilly high/low of 47°/31°, was the fifth day in a row with a mean temperature 10 degrees or more colder than average.  As a whole, these five days were 13 degrees below average.  Today was also the home opener for the Mets. 

1986 (Tuesday)

After showers at daybreak, the sun came out and for the second year in a row the Yankees played their home opener in temperatures in the mid-70s.  (And like last year the Yankees won.) 

1990 (Sunday)

Today's high was 50° (eight degrees below average), yesterday's was 51° and the day before that, 52°.  Today, however, had the most sunshine. 

1991 (Monday)

Today's afternoon high was a sizzling 90°, a record for the date and the first of thirty-nine 90-degree days this year (a record number of days that would be equaled two summers later).  It was also New York's earliest date for a 90-degree reading until 2010 (when the mercury hit 92° on April 7).  

Today was also the home opener for the Mets, played this afternoon (the temperature at Shea Stadium may have been a bit cooler because of its proximity to Flushing Bay). 

2003 (Tuesday)

Yet another cold start to the Yankees' season.  This game tied the snowy one of 1996 as the coldest home opener in the 1970-2015 period and was played one day after four inches of snow fell.  The temperature at game time was just 37°, twenty-one degrees below average, and more typical of mid-winter. 

2007 (Sunday)

With a high of only 41° and a frosty low of 30°, this was the coldest Easter Sunday since 1940 (based on mean temperature). 

2011 (Friday)

The Mets' home opener was played in gray and raw conditions with afternoon temperatures well below average (upper 40s).  This was quite a difference from last season's home opener which was played under sunny skies and with temperatures in the 70s. 

2013 (Monday)

With a high of 73°, today was the first day of the year with a temperature in the 70s, and the first 70-degree reading since Oct. 15, a span of 176 days, the third longest gap between 70-degree readings in the 1980-2019 period.  The longest span was 196 days in 1983/84 (Nov. 14 - April 26), followed by 189 days in 2002/03 (Oct. 7-April 15).  The typical number of days is 138 (Nov. 8 - March 25).    

2021 (Thursday)

Skies were sunny, the mercury rose to 70°, and the Mets came from behind in the bottom of the ninth inning to win their home opener against Miami, 3-2.  As so often happens, the Mets had better home-opener weather than the Yankees, as skies were brighter, and it was about twenty degrees warmer.   

2022 (Friday)

The day after rain postponed the Yankees' home opener, today's rescheduled game was played under sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s.  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.)    

2026 (Wednesday)

The day's low temperature of 30° was the coldest reading in a little more than three weeks and the coldest reading in April in five years (28° on 4/2/21). In the years since 1980 the coldest reading in April has averaged 33°.