Record Rains in NYC for 2nd Consecutive Day
Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 11:10 am
Yesterday saw NYC's Central Park set a new daily rainfall record for the second consecutive day:
10/12: 4.26" (old record: 3.40", 1983)
10/13: 2.75" (old record: 1.96", 1927)
2-Day Total: 7.01"
Consecutive daily rainfall records exist in 7 prior years since 1869:
∙ September 22-23, 1882 (TS 4)
∙ June 22-23, 1887
∙ April 26-27, 1889
∙ October 8-9, 1903 (Slow absorption of well-offshore TS 8 and low that came eastward from the Great Lakes*)
∙ May 27-28, 1906
∙ September 13-14, 1944 ("Great Atlantic Hurricane")
∙ August 12-13, 1955 (Connie)
Total rainfall for these two-day periods:
1882: 10.62"
1887: 3.71"
1889: 3.42"
1903: 11.63"
1906: 3.78"
1944: 7.76"
1955: 6.32"
A total of 11.80" fell in the October 8-10, 1903 period. The overall flooding nearly washed out the first-ever World Series.
Historical photos from the 1903 flood at Uhlertown, Pennsylvania-Frenchtown, New Jersey Bridge can be found at: http://www.pennridge.org/works/ufrhistory.html and a photo from Patterson, New Jersey can be found at: http://www.patersonhistory.com/pictures/pictures/floodmonument.jpg
No year is responsible for daily rainfall records on 3 consecutive days. The existing October 14 record is 1.76" set in 1995. Through Noon today, 0.99" has fallen. There is a chance that today's rainfall could eclipse the mark set in 1995, but that is not assured.
In addition, NYC's 3-day rainfall through Noon today has totaled 8.00 inches. That brings October's rainfall to 12.70 inches, which ranks 3rd highest for October since regular recordkeeping began in 1869:
1. 13.31" 1903
2. 12.97" 1913
3. 12.62" 2005 (through 10/14 Noon)
* From the October 10, 1903 issue of The New York Times: A rainstorm which came from the lake region on Thursday morning [October 8] at 9:20 met another one which has been traveling up from the southern coast. The result of this aerial collision was a downpour which lasted until 3:50 o'clock yesterday afternoon [October 9], and the Weather Bureau contains no record of heavier rainfall.
From the October 11, 1903 issue of The New York Times concerning Philadelphia and Trenton: Late this afternoon [October 10] the Delaware River rose above the docks and piers, and flooded Delaware Avenue, which runs along the river front, for a distance of ten blocks. The ferry boats were unable to enter their slips, and all vessels tied at the piers rode on a level with the street. Thousands of dollars' worth of perishable freight was destroyed or damaged. The wharf of the Philadelphia and Trenton Steamboat Company was partly wrecked by the wind and water... At Manayunk the Schuylkill River is 14 feet above normal, which is two feet lower than the highest point ever registered.
The area of heavy rain moved slowly northward. The October 11, 1903 issue of [i]The New York Times published the following report from October 10 in Utica: Rain has fallen continuously for sixty hours in this vicinity, the greatest rainfall in fifty years. The lower business sections of the city have been under water all day, and much damage has resulted.
10/12: 4.26" (old record: 3.40", 1983)
10/13: 2.75" (old record: 1.96", 1927)
2-Day Total: 7.01"
Consecutive daily rainfall records exist in 7 prior years since 1869:
∙ September 22-23, 1882 (TS 4)
∙ June 22-23, 1887
∙ April 26-27, 1889
∙ October 8-9, 1903 (Slow absorption of well-offshore TS 8 and low that came eastward from the Great Lakes*)
∙ May 27-28, 1906
∙ September 13-14, 1944 ("Great Atlantic Hurricane")
∙ August 12-13, 1955 (Connie)
Total rainfall for these two-day periods:
1882: 10.62"
1887: 3.71"
1889: 3.42"
1903: 11.63"
1906: 3.78"
1944: 7.76"
1955: 6.32"
A total of 11.80" fell in the October 8-10, 1903 period. The overall flooding nearly washed out the first-ever World Series.
Historical photos from the 1903 flood at Uhlertown, Pennsylvania-Frenchtown, New Jersey Bridge can be found at: http://www.pennridge.org/works/ufrhistory.html and a photo from Patterson, New Jersey can be found at: http://www.patersonhistory.com/pictures/pictures/floodmonument.jpg
No year is responsible for daily rainfall records on 3 consecutive days. The existing October 14 record is 1.76" set in 1995. Through Noon today, 0.99" has fallen. There is a chance that today's rainfall could eclipse the mark set in 1995, but that is not assured.
In addition, NYC's 3-day rainfall through Noon today has totaled 8.00 inches. That brings October's rainfall to 12.70 inches, which ranks 3rd highest for October since regular recordkeeping began in 1869:
1. 13.31" 1903
2. 12.97" 1913
3. 12.62" 2005 (through 10/14 Noon)
* From the October 10, 1903 issue of The New York Times: A rainstorm which came from the lake region on Thursday morning [October 8] at 9:20 met another one which has been traveling up from the southern coast. The result of this aerial collision was a downpour which lasted until 3:50 o'clock yesterday afternoon [October 9], and the Weather Bureau contains no record of heavier rainfall.
From the October 11, 1903 issue of The New York Times concerning Philadelphia and Trenton: Late this afternoon [October 10] the Delaware River rose above the docks and piers, and flooded Delaware Avenue, which runs along the river front, for a distance of ten blocks. The ferry boats were unable to enter their slips, and all vessels tied at the piers rode on a level with the street. Thousands of dollars' worth of perishable freight was destroyed or damaged. The wharf of the Philadelphia and Trenton Steamboat Company was partly wrecked by the wind and water... At Manayunk the Schuylkill River is 14 feet above normal, which is two feet lower than the highest point ever registered.
The area of heavy rain moved slowly northward. The October 11, 1903 issue of [i]The New York Times published the following report from October 10 in Utica: Rain has fallen continuously for sixty hours in this vicinity, the greatest rainfall in fifty years. The lower business sections of the city have been under water all day, and much damage has resulted.
