Last year, we had a frigid Christmas. Temperatures started out in the teens and only warmed into the 20s. Overall, we had pretty quiet weather, especially compared to other years. Let’s look back.


What You Need To Know

  • The warmest Christmas was in 2015, with a high of 66 degrees

  • The coldest Christmas in NYC was in 1980, with a low of -1 degrees

  • It was the wettest Christmas on record in 1945 when 1.26 inches of rain fell

  • The snowiest Christmas on record was in 1909, with seven inches of snow

2015

Our first trip down the road of Christmas past brings us to a time not that long ago. In 2015, temperatures peaked in the 60s on Christmas Day.

The official high at Central Park was 66 degrees. This followed a high of 72 degrees on Christmas Eve, the warmest temperature ever recorded for the second half of December.

1980

Next on our journey, we stop in the 1980s… well, barely. The year was 1980. As we transitioned out of the 1970s and away from Disco, NYC froze.

It was a bitter cold on Christmas Day. The low temperature was -1 degrees, and that’s the coldest Christmas morning on record. 

Side note: none of the top-five coldest Christmas Days have occurred since 1983.

1945

As we continue our journey of Christmas past, we go way back and remember that some Christmases can be quite soggy.

In 1945, it was very soggy. That’s when 1.26 inches of rain fell, making it the wettest Christmas on record.

1909

Like every story, we’ll end this with a merry scene.

It’s been a long, long time since the snowiest Christmas Day on record in Central Park, but it must have been a beautiful sight.

On Christmas Day in 1909, seven inches of snow fell at Central Park, making it the snowiest Christmas on record.

Although, it didn’t actively snow on Christmas Day in 2009, that’s the last time NYC saw a white Christmas. A white Christmas happens when we have at least one inch of snow on the ground at 7 a.m. on Christmas Day.

In 2009, Central Park had two inches of snow on the ground on Christmas morning.

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