Friday, August 24, 2007

Tuesday's 59° high in New York City equals their lowest August high temperature

As mentioned in my previous blog entry, it was a very unseasonably cool day in the Big Apple on Tuesday. So much so that it turned out to be the coldest August day on record for Central Park.

Tuesday's high temperature which occurred at 2:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time was only 59°. That set a record for the lowest high temperature for August 21st which previously was 64° in 1999, but it wasn't for the entire day (overnight low of 53° in 1922). But the bigger story was that it tied the all-time record for the month with the lowest high temperature set in 1911.

This weather story was certainly talked about on the local newscasts such as at WCBS-TV's web site showing the headline, "Arctic August: NYC sets record for coldest day". Arctic August? That's quite a stretch. Long Island Newsday had a nice clever headline, "August heat takes a chill pill". For nearly a week, that dose of weather medicine lasted much longer than your average cold medicine can provide... ya know, those that claim it can for 24 hours?

It certainly did not feel like summer outside, but instead was a true autumn preview. What happened on three days ago is typical for November 1st, not August 21st. While I personally cannot wait for fall to arrive, summer weather will return today as it will be back in the mid 80s this afternoon. Five straight days of below normal temperatures made New Yorkers feel spoiled compared to our friends down south.

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