New York City witnesses its driest month since records began in 1869
It’s official: October 2024 was New York City’s driest month in recorded history.
Any record in New York City is exceptional given that Central Park has one of the longest periods of record in the United States, with regular observations stretching all the way back to January 1869.
The city’s observation station only picked up a measly 0.01″ of rain during a light shower on October 29, which was the only measurable precipitation recorded there during the entire month. Given that scant amount of rainfall, the city has never witnessed a completely dry month devoid of any measurable precipitation.
A short drive down I-95 finds the longest dry streak on record in Philadelphia, where records began back in 1871. The city has gone 34 days without measurable precipitation as of November 1, and they’re likely going to pad that streak heading into next week.
October 2024 was also Philadelphia’s first month on record without any measurable precipitation. Previously, the city’s driest-ever month was October 1963, during which they saw only 0.09″ of rain.
This isn’t just a regional lack of precipitation. As I outlined last week, most of the United States was unusually dry through the month of October save for a few select locations.
The latest update of the United States Drought Monitor found that 87.16% of the country was abnormally dry or mired in some level of drought.
This is the greatest area of aridity the USDM has ever measured since they started keeping track in January 2000.
A pattern shift heading deeper into November should reverse the trend a bit, especially in the Midwest and across the southern Plains. However, it’s likely that ridging will continue to dominate the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, bringing above-seasonal temperatures and drier-than-normal conditions to the region for a few more weeks.
