Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Next Few Days = Good, Next Few Years = Not so Good?
By
Joe Schumacher
Published Nov 21, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Joe Schumacher
Published Nov 21, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Oh, man, Gothamist's head is spinning this afternoon. We just read the New York article about near future weather and climate changes the city is facing. We cringe whenever we see the words "freakish" and "weird" in any story about the weather as their use usually means the author doesn't have a firm grasp of the subject matter. This case is no exception as we found numerous little errors and misinterpretations. Despite these errors the article mostly gets the big picture right: There's a mild El Nino (which usually indicates a mild winter), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation is in its warm phase (greater hurricane frequency), and longer-term global temperatures are continuing to rise (more intense hurricanes).
If you are interested in how temperatures have changed over the past five years you're in luck. Gothamist had a bit of down time last week, so we did a little cutting-and-pasting of data to extend our daily temperature trend chart back to 2002. These are cumulative changes, where we keep adding how far above/below normal each day's temperature is to the previous day's total. If the climate weren't changing you'd expect to see ups and downs centered around zero. That's not been the case around here. 2002 got off to a warm start, then we went into a cool spell through July 2003. That was followed by two years of mostly near-normal temperatures. Starting in June 2005 its been almost all warm all the time. Over the past five years our average temperature has been 0.6 degrees above normal, but since June of last year temperatures have averaged nearly 2 degrees above normal.
But let's get back to this week. The last few days of chill begin to leave us tomorrow. High temperatures should be in the 50s for the rest of the week. There's a slight chance of rain Thanksgiving Day and a greater chance Thursday night into Friday. Overall though, this week's weather looks fairly uneventful and shouldn't cause much delay if you are traveling into, or out of, town.
Tagged
big picture
el nino
gothamist
hurricane
new york
rain
thanksgiving
thanksgiving day
the city
this week
weather
Joe Schumacher
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Peepapalooza: NYC is heading to the Hudson Valley to watch the leaves
Don't be surprised if you run into someone from your building in Beacon.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
Sean Carlson
Published Oct 24, 2026 at 10:46 a.m. ET
NYPD: Officer shot, injured knife-wielding woman during ‘chaotic’ night at Queens home
The woman is in stable condition, police said, but several people were stabbed.
By
Ryan Kost
News
NYPD: Officer shot, injured knife-wielding woman during ‘chaotic’ night at Queens home
The woman is in stable condition, police said, but several people were stabbed.
By
Ryan Kost
3 slates vying to run Jersey City school board as city stares down major tax hikes
By
Michael Sol Warren
5 men charged with trespassing in 2 Manhattan manhole cases
By
Charles Lane
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
By
Charles Lane
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .