This week is our eighth anniversary here on Gothamist so let's take a moment to look at how the temperature has changed over the past decade. It's hard to see trends when daily temperatures are plotted over a long time because the seasonal cycle and day-to-day fluctuations are so big. Instead, we've plotted cumulative highs and lows so you can see periods of warmer/cooler weather. Not much happened the first few years. First there were a few warm months, then a few cool months, then the temperature was decidedly average through July 2005. More than three years of warm weather follow before the cool 2009 occurs. Except for the cold and snowy Dec 2010 - Jan 2011 the last two years have featured almost continuous warming, winding up with the incredible spike of the last few months. November, December, February and March were all among their top five warmest months since measurements began in 1869. Overall, the city has warmed about a degree in the past ten years. more ›

While we had a very pleasant day yesterday the same can't be said for the Dallas area, which was hit by several tornadoes. Despite hundreds of buildings being destroyed and this insane video of 15,000 pound tractor trailers being tossed around like matchsticks, nobody was killed or even seriously hurt. That disturbance has moved on to the Gulf Coast this morning and is not expected to make its way anywhere close to us. more ›

As expected, the cold weather on Saturday meant that last month fell two-tenths of a degree short of setting a record for warmest March ever recorded in Central Park. Still, the average of 50.9 degrees easily pushed 2012 into second place. Every other spot in the metro area, JFK, Laguardia, Islip, Bridgeport, and Newark, had their warmest March ever. Last month was also Central Park's fourth driest on record with only 0.96 inches of precipitation observed. more ›

While the weather over the middle part of the country is a big question mark this morning, the New York area will bask in near record high temperatures this afternoon. Meteorologically, there's not much to this story. High pressure is sitting just off the coast and that is bringing us a warm, southerly breeze today. Central Park's record high for this date is 71 degrees set in 1890. We'll likely fall a couple degrees short of that mark, but other nearby locations, with much shorter climate records, will probably break their records today. more ›

Did everyone make it through what passes for a major cold spell this winter? We had to put on a sweater yesterday! That's not the case today as high pressure has moved offshore and will treat us with a warm southwesterly breeze. Look for a high in the upper 50s—possibly 60—for the city and lower 50s along the coast and for much of Long Island. West of the city, the bone dry air of the past few days will combine with 10-15 mph winds to produce conditions favorable for the spread of brush fires. Red flag warnings have been posted for much of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. more ›

Were you outside between six and eight this morning? Did something feel "odd" to you? For only the third time this month, and for less than two hours, the temperature went below freezing. The cold air is half the ingredients needed to produce significant snow. The other half, a storm, was present down south where up to 9 inches fell, but that storm quickly went out to sea. Despite the chilly start this President's Day should warm to the mid 40s under sunny skies this afternoon. However, given the brisk northerly wind it may not feel like the mid 40s. more ›

When do you think the latest date is that really cold weather can strike New York? That depends on how you define "really cold" but this graph of every January through March daily temperature since 1971 has the answer. The squiggly line is the mean and that bottomed out a couple weeks ago at 29 degrees. Following the January Thaw, the curve reaches another nadir on February 5th before beginning a slow increase. We should dutifully point out that the thaw, like all the day-to-day squiggles in the line, is not statistically significant -just look at that variability. From a climate perspective there is still a chance of cold weather, but the odds are against us having a brutally cold week like what happened in 1979. more ›

Since today is the twelfth straight day of warmer than normal temperatures we've taken to enjoying winter vicariously. Blizzard conditions and up to two feet of snow are expected to fall on Denver and eastern Colorado today. Here in New York we should see lots of sun early on and maybe a few clouds invading late this afternoon. With a high of 45 degrees it won't be as warm as the past few days. more ›

Record highs were set or tied all over the region on Saturday except for Central Park, where the high of 62 fell two degrees short of the record set in 1907. While the weather is expected to remain warmer than normal for most of this week, no records are anticipated and things are looking good for a return to more seasonable temperatures by the weekend. Despite the cool start this morning, plentiful sun throughout the day should warm the city to the lower 40s this afternoon. The warming trend continues through mid-week with highs in the upper 40s tomorrow and near 50 on Wednesday. Then things begin to change. more ›

A weak area of low pressure will pass through the region late Saturday. Be on the lookout for a cloud or two! Another dry air mass will follow on Sunday. This one doesn't have much cold air. Sunday's high will be in the mid 40s under sunny skies and the temperature on Monday is expected to stay in the low 40s. That's a couple degrees warmer than average. more ›

The shadows are long in mid-December. The weak sunlight can't much compete against a cold air mass and gusty winds, so at best we'll see the temperature hold steady for a few hours today before dropping to near 40 degrees by late afternoon. A quick look at the surface weather map this morning shows a low developing over Atlanta. As that moves offshore it normally would be a candidate for a nor'easter, but the high pressure system that will be over us the next couple of days is going to shunt that storm way out to sea. more ›

Despite a cold front tonight we are going to have another dry weekend. High pressure overhead means a sunny day with a high in the lower 50s. A cold front that stretches all the way from Quebec down into Mexico is going the pass through the city tonight. It's a dry front so all that's going to happen is the wind is going to become gusty and northerly and Saturday will be cooler with a high in the upper 40s. The temperature should rebound to the mid 50s on Sunday afternoon. more ›

It's as if November is trying to make up for the cloudy, rainy weather we had in October. After a sun-filled weekend we've got us another couple days of clear skies ahead. High pressure sitting off the New Jersey coast means plenty of subsidence over the region and with subsiding air you get clear skies. The slight southwesterly flow will push today's high to near 60 degrees. Perfect weather to observe the 71st anniversary of a weather-related disaster. A bit of a windshift overnight will push Tuesday's high to the mid 60s. more ›

Looking at the hourly observations in Central Park it appears that the cold front passed through the city between four and six this morning, but that it took until almost ten a.m. for the cool Canadian air mass behind the front to arrive. You don't need to look at a website to know that we've now got a healthy north wind. The dew point has also dropped considerably, which means that after an afternoon high in the mid 50s we'll see a chilly night tonight. Look for the temperature across the city to be in the upper 30s tomorrow morning. more ›

Time for storm fun facts! The 2.9 inches of snow that was measured in Central Park on Saturday makes this the snowiest October ever, more than tripling the previous record of 0.8 inches in 1925. The snow and rain combined to bring us two inches of precipitation, pushing this year's total to 65.75 inches. That's enough to make this the third wettest year since records began in 1869 and two feet of precipitation more than normal. With two months to go we are a little more than an inch away from knocking 1972 out of second place. Unless there's a sudden, severe, drought we'll eclipse that but first place, 80.56 inches in 1983, is probably out of our grasp. more ›

Yesterday's high of 84 degrees came within two degrees of tying the record high at Central Park. Record highs were set at JFK, LaGuardia, Islip, and Newark, but all of those stations have been taking observations for a much shorter time than the park so records there aren't as impressive. Although the ridge of high pressure that's produced all the sunshine and warmth is beginning to flatten, this afternoon will still see another summer-like day with highs in the lower to mid 80s across the region. A few thin cirrus clouds may build in over the course of the day but they won't much affect the temperature. more ›

Nearly two inches of rain over the weekend making this month the second rainiest August on record in Central Park. We're now only 0.77 inches behind the 1995 record of 12.36 inches. With ten days remaining and hurricane Irene potentially coming up the East Coast there is a fighting chance we'll break that old record. more ›