It’s the last week of August and it finally feels like summer in New York City. The high temperature in Central Park has been in the upper 80’s for the past few days and today it soared to 90°F. This is worth noting, because high heat has been something of a rarity in the Big Apple this summer.

This season to date, NYC has only had five days reach 90°F or higher. On average, we typically get fifteen. Looking back, every month this summer brought a noticeable dearth of extreme heat. June had zero days with temperatures at or above 90°F, July had three and August (so far) has only had two.

The most 90-degree days that the city has ever had in one year, according to NWS records, was thirty-nine. That happened in both 1991 and 1993. On the opposite end of the spectrum, 1902 only had one day hit the 90°F mark.  Last summer, we made it to 90°F or higher seventeen times.