Today in New York Weather History: April 30

 

1874 (Thursday)

The last three days of the month all had lows of 32° or colder, joining eight other days this month with lows this cold.  No other April has had this many days with lows of freezing or colder; these days contributed to this being the coldest April on record.  (The following April, and April 1943 would have nine such days, the second most on record.)

1925 (Thursday)

It was rainy (0.55" was measured) and very cool, with a high/low of just 45°/42°.  The high was a record for the coolest maximum temperature on this date. 

1940 (Tuesday)

Today's high of 67°, just a few degrees above average, was the mildest reading of the month.  (The warmest high temperature in April in the years before this was typically in the 78°-82° range.)  In the years since 1900 this was the only April with no readings of 70° or warmer - until 2020. 

 

1942 (Thursday)

Today's high of 91°, a record for the date, followed a high of 72° yesterday, and 53° the day before that.  The previous record for the date, 86°, was set just last year.  In both years, the humidity was quite low during the afternoon, at around 25%. 

1962 (Monday)

After three days of summer-like warmth (highs of 91°-89°-80°), this afternoon was raw and showery with temperatures only in the upper-40s. 

1963 (Tuesday)

Up until today, just 0.39" of rain had fallen this month, and it appeared it would become the driest April on record.  However, an all-day rain brought 0.89", and the month ended up tied for third driest April. 

Until 2014, today's rainfall was a record for the date, which was the second smallest amount for a daily record (Sept. 9's daily record is 0.86", which was established back in 1902). 

1990 (Monday)

Today's high of 56° (ten degrees below average) was quite a drop from 73° yesterday and 90° two days ago. 

2012 (Monday)

The final nine days of April all had chillier than average temperatures - the longest such streak since the end of March last year.  But despite these below average conditions, the month was the unprecedented thirteenth in a row with above average temperatures. 

 

2013 (Tuesday)

With a high/low of 68°/51°, today's mean temperature was two degrees above average, just enough to move the month's mean temperature from 0.1 degree below average to right at the average.  Thus, it joined August 1999 and August 1985 as the only months since 1980 to have a mean temperature on par with the monthly average. 

April's high was 0.1 above average; the low was 0.1 below average.  However, what was far from average was the month's precipitation, which amounted to just 1.31".  This was 71% below the norm of 4.51", making it the fifth driest April on record (and the driest in 50 years). 

2014 (Wednesday)

Until this year, April 30 was one of three dates that had never seen an inch of rain.  That distinction ended today as nearly five inches flooded the area, with more than half of it falling after 6 PM.  The 4.97" that fell was the tenth greatest daily rainfall on record (now ranked twelfth).  Besides the rain, it was also a very raw day, with temperatures only in the 40s. 

 

 2019 (Tuesday)

Today was the eighteenth day this month with measurable precipitation, the most of any month since May 2012, and the most on record of any April (the most of any month is nineteen days, in Dec. 1972 and May 1973). 

However, despite this high frequency of rainy days, the amount of rain that fell in April, 4.55", was an average amount.  (Seven days had 0.03" or less.)  By contrast, New York's ten rainiest Aprils averaged 12 days of precipitation (ranging from nine to fifteen).   

2023 (Sunday)

After drying out overnight from yesterday’s deluge of 2.49”, more rain moved in after 11 AM and it turned heavy between 3-7 PM when 1.57" poured down; by midnight 2.32” had fallen.  This brought April’s total rainfall to 7.70”, making it the seventh wettest April on record.  This was quite an accomplishment considering that in the first three weeks of the month just 0.40” had fallen.  Then three storms dropped more than two inches of rain in the last nine days of the month: 2.19” on 4/22-3; 2.79” on 4/28-29; and 2.32” today. 

 

Finally, despite this being the seventh day in a row with below average temperature (averaging five degrees chillier than average) the month ended up being the second mildest April on record, behind April 2010.  This followed the mildest January on record, the third mildest February, and 25th mildest March.  

2025 (Wednesday)

Today's high of 73° was the tenth of 70+ in the past 12 days, the most on record for the closing 12 days of April.  Additionally, this was also the mildest last 12 days of April on record as the high/low of 74°/55° was seven degrees above average.