How extreme does New Haven's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days New Haven has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.

Based on 50+ years of daily weather observations (1971–present), from the Igor I Sikorsky Mem Ap station 23 km away. Updated through May 2026 — an all-time extreme only changes when a more extreme day actually occurs, so some dates are old. That is normal, not stale data.

The four kinds of extreme

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days New Haven has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day

103°F Jul 22, 2011

That is about 20°F hotter than a normal July afternoon in New Haven (typical high near 83°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 103°F Jul 22, 2011

2 100°F Jul 5, 1999

3 100°F Aug 9, 2001

❄️ Coldest night

-7°F Jan 22, 1984

About 31°F colder than a normal January night in New Haven (typical low near 24°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -7°F Jan 22, 1984

2 -6°F Feb 14, 2016

3 -5°F Jan 18, 1982

🌧️ Most rain in one day

6.18 in Jun 19, 1972

More rain in a single day than New Haven usually gets in the whole month of June (typical June total about 3.8 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 6.18 in Jun 19, 1972

2 5.95 in Jul 19, 1971

3 5.77 in Sep 1, 2021

⛄ Most snow in one day

18.5 in Feb 8, 2013

Close to a whole typical February's snow in one day (New Haven averages about 11 in across the month).

The three most extreme on record

1 18.5 in Feb 8, 2013

2 17.0 in Feb 17, 2003

3 15.7 in Jan 20, 1978

How hot and cold it gets, month by month

The shaded band is the normal range of daily temperatures for each month. The dots show the most extreme it has ever been — so you can see how far beyond a normal day the records really sit.

normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

New Haven's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — July's 103°F is about 20°F beyond a normal hot afternoon. Its record cold is just as far below a normal winter night — the dots mark how rare each extreme really is.

In plain terms

In a normal year, New Haven's warmest days reach the low 80s°F and its coldest nights drop to the mid-20s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 103°F and as low as −7°F. A single day has delivered over 6 inches of rain or close to 19 inches of snow. Those are the outer edges worth knowing if you are moving here, planning a trip, or thinking about a house.

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at MT Carmel (NOAA GHCN station USC00065077), about 11 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →

← New Haven city detail