New York City had its rainiest hour ever on Saturday night
Photo by Mark Wilkie via Flickr cc
On Saturday, between 10pm and 11pm, Central Park saw 1.94 inches of rainfall, the most ever recorded in a single hour in New York City, according to the National Weather Service, which has been keeping weather records since 1870. Just hours earlier, the park was evacuated during the city’s massive Homecoming Concert for fears over impending weather brought on by Tropical Storm Henri. August 21st was also the wettest day since 2014.
According to the National Weather Service Eastern Region, rainfall totals through 4pm on Sunday were 7.82 inches in Brooklyn Heights and 6.35 inches in Central Park. In addition, NWS New York NY reported that “the Central Park ASOS broke the daily maximum rainfall record for 8/21 with 4.45 inches of rain,” with most of this rain occurring “over a 2 hour period, with 1.84 inches falling from 11pm to midnight.”
But none of this tops September 23, 1882, the rainiest full day in New York City history, when 8.28 inches of rainfall was recorded. As we previously explained, “The torrential downpour had residents vacating all of the city’s stores and bars. Police had to rescue residents in the Bronx after the houses by Valentine Avenue after they were flooded by four feet of water.”
Sadly, the conditions on Saturday caused Central Park to be evacuated a little after 7:30pm, while Barry Manilow was in the middle of performing. There were still more than two hours left, with Bruce Springsteen, The Killers, Paul Simon, and Patti Smith yet to have performed. Had it just rained, the show would have gone on, but when lightning struck within a predetermined radius, all concertgoers were asked to leave the park.
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