New York, NY Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from New York's primary NOAA station, NEW YORK CNTRL PK TWR.
The climate verdict for New York
Water is the standout signal in New York, New York: 49.5 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 56°F. Its climate comfort score of 73/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 66% of station-mapped location scores.
- 56°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 73/100
- comfort score, above 66% of station-mapped location scores
- 49.5"
- annual precipitation · 30" snow
- 235 days
- frost-free growing season
New York: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00094728 · New York, NY 56°F mean · 49.5" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 56°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,322
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Hartley
- PRCP-MID 49.5"
- SWING-MID 44°F
- COMF-MID 73/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,553 HDD
- STN-1 USW00094728
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Hartley, TX (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every NY station list.
- New York (this station) 56°F
- Cold Eastern Kentuck…, KY 56°F
- Hot Hartley, TX 56°F
- Near Tell City, IN 56°F
- Near Hamlin, WV 56°F
Climate Living Index · New York
New York: 67/100 · grade C
New York publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for New York, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 73/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 68 calendar days | 86/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 235 days/year | 83/100 · B |
| Annual temperature balance | 55.8°F · 11.7° from 67.5°F | 62/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 49.5 in · 14.5 from 35 in | 49/100 · D |
| Snowfall burden | 29.8 inches/year | 39/100 · F |
New York · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
New York is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 33.7°F and warmest-month mean 77.5°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 77.5°F
- Coldest month
- 33.7°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where New York sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for New York's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 63rd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 20% wettest
- New York's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 52nd percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How New York compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
New York's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
73 Top 34% score exceeds 66% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). This entry sits in this band.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
New York's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 154 complete annual observations from 1845 to 2025, NEW YORK CNTRL PK TWR warmed at a fitted rate of 0.14°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- New York primary station fitted change +0.14 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F (4°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 3.6" | 8.8" | 20.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 42°F (6°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 3.2" | 10.1" | 17.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 50°F (10°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 4.3" | 5.0" | 10.6 | 0.0 |
| April | 62°F (17°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 4.1" | 0.4" | 1.0 | 0.2 |
| May | 71°F (22°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 4.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| June | 80°F (27°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 4.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.8 |
| July | 85°F (29°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 78°F (25°C) | 4.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 7.4 |
| August | 83°F (29°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 4.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 4.9 |
| September | 76°F (25°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| October | 65°F (18°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 4.4" | 0.1" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 54°F (12°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 3.6" | 0.5" | 3.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 44°F (7°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 4.4" | 4.9" | 13.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 85°F around July 17, short of 90°F on every date, while 68 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 27°F near January 23.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into February 28, then returns to freezing around December 23, covering 68 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is April 20, when 38% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 9 at 28%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 126 wet dates a year.
The widest day
May 2 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 17°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for New York.
Where New York Stands Nationally
Among the steadiest day-night climates ranked: even the widest normal daily swing holds to roughly 17°F.
New York earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 8.8"
10.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 10.1"
10.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.0"
11.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.4"
11.4 days with precipitation
11.5 days with precipitation
11.2 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
10.0 days with precipitation
8.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
9.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.5"
9.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.9"
11.4 days with precipitation
New York spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 28% of the annual total and December through February 23%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. New York has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 43.8°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: July averages 4.6" and February 3.2". The three wettest months together take 28% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in New York, it arrives in quantity
49.5" of precipitation falls across only about 125 wet days here, averaging 0.39 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 125 a year, 34% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.39 inches
- Most wet days
- May, about 12
- Fewest wet days
- September, about 9
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Winter brings real snow to New York
New York averages 29.8 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 11 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 29.8 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 11 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 6% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 20
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 30
50% probability date
Growing Season
235 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,553
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,222
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NY closest to New York on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (56°F here).
- Bryson City, NC 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Cassville, MO 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Covelo, CA 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Elnora, IN 56°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (49.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Dardanelle, AR 49.5" · 0.0" off
- Lexington, GA 49.5" · 0.0" off
- New Brunswick, NJ 49.5" · 0.0" off
- Greenville, NH 49.5" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define New York
heating led · wet · mid swing
New York's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,553 annual heating degree days against 1,222 for cooling. Its 43.8°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
New York's frost-free season lasts about 235 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. New York coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 34°F (1°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. New York typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. New York snow peak
February
New York averages 29.8 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about New York's climate
How much snow does New York get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in New York? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from New York's primary station: NEW YORK CNTRL PK TWR (USW00094728). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 3651000). Match rule for New York: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for New York comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.