Climate averages 1991–2020
Manhattan weather
in December.
A cold, wet month: the 10th warmest and the joint 8th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a cold month in Manhattan: daytime highs average 5.7°C and nights cool to about -1.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the 10th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 100 mm of rain on roughly 10 days, which makes December a wet month (the joint 8th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 9 h 19 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is New York City (8 km away). In December its highs average 5.8°C, about as warm as Manhattan, with 100 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Manhattan ranks joint 335th of 498 for the warmest December highs and joint 373rd of 498 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 498 cities is 10.5°C; Manhattan is 4.8°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 2.7°C to 3.0°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 100 mm to 81 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Manhattan climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.0°C-4.9°C | -4.9°C | 81 | 9.1 | 9.610 h |
| February | 4.4°C-4.6°C | -4.6°C | 77 | 8.4 | 10.611 h |
| March | 8.7°C-0.7°C | -0.7°C | 105 | 10.2 | 11.912 h |
| April | 15.1°C5.2°C | 5.2°C | 91 | 10.6 | 13.313 h |
| May | 20.6°C11.1°C | 11.1°C | 85 | 10.9 | 14.414 h |
| June | 25.7°C16.6°C | 16.6°C | 100 | 11.2 | 15.015 h |
| July | 28.6°C19.9°C | 19.9°C | 103 | 11.1 | 14.815 h |
| August | 27.6°C19.2°C | 19.2°C | 101 | 10.4 | 13.814 h |
| September | 23.7°C15.6°C | 15.6°C | 94 | 9.4 | 12.513 h |
| October | 17.3°C9.4°C | 9.4°C | 97 | 8.5 | 11.211 h |
| November | 11.1°C3.4°C | 3.4°C | 77 | 8.0 | 10.010 h |
| December, selected | 5.7°C-1.4°C | -1.4°C | 100 | 9.7 | 9.39 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
December in nearby cities
- New York City in DecemberUnited States · 8 kmHigh 5.8°C · Low -1.4°C · 100 mm rain
- The Bronx in DecemberUnited States · 11 kmHigh 5.9°C · Low -1.4°C · 105 mm rain
- Brooklyn in DecemberUnited States · 15 kmHigh 6.1°C · Low -0.9°C · 100 mm rain
- Queens in DecemberUnited States · 16 kmHigh 6.3°C · Low -0.3°C · 105 mm rain
- Passaic in DecemberUnited States · 16 kmHigh 5.6°C · Low -1.4°C · 103 mm rain
- Yonkers in DecemberUnited States · 17 kmHigh 5.6°C · Low -1.2°C · 102 mm rain
- Newark in DecemberUnited States · 18 kmHigh 6.1°C · Low -1.4°C · 103 mm rain
- Paterson in DecemberUnited States · 23 kmHigh 5.6°C · Low -1.4°C · 105 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Manhattan) is explained once on the Manhattan year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
New York City and Brooklyn lie in the same rainfall cell, so their rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.