Climate averages 1991–2020
New York City 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 New York City: daytime highs average 5.8°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 Manhattan (8 km away). In December its highs average 5.7°C, about as warm as New York City, with 100 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, New York City ranks joint 331st 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; New York City is 4.7°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 2.7°C to 3.1°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
New York City climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.1°C-4.8°C | -4.8°C | 81 | 9.1 | 9.610 h |
| February | 4.4°C-4.5°C | -4.5°C | 77 | 8.4 | 10.611 h |
| March | 8.7°C-0.6°C | -0.6°C | 105 | 10.2 | 11.912 h |
| April | 15.0°C5.3°C | 5.3°C | 91 | 10.6 | 13.313 h |
| May | 20.4°C11.0°C | 11.0°C | 85 | 10.9 | 14.414 h |
| June | 25.5°C16.5°C | 16.5°C | 100 | 11.2 | 15.015 h |
| July | 28.5°C19.9°C | 19.9°C | 103 | 11.1 | 14.815 h |
| August | 27.4°C19.2°C | 19.2°C | 101 | 10.4 | 13.814 h |
| September | 23.6°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 | 11.2°C3.5°C | 3.5°C | 77 | 8.0 | 10.010 h |
| December, selected | 5.8°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
- Manhattan in DecemberUnited States · 8 kmHigh 5.7°C · Low -1.4°C · 100 mm rain
- Brooklyn in DecemberUnited States · 9 kmHigh 6.1°C · Low -0.9°C · 100 mm rain
- Newark in DecemberUnited States · 14 kmHigh 6.1°C · Low -1.4°C · 103 mm rain
- Queens in DecemberUnited States · 15 kmHigh 6.3°C · Low -0.3°C · 105 mm rain
- Passaic in DecemberUnited States · 19 kmHigh 5.6°C · Low -1.4°C · 103 mm rain
- The Bronx in DecemberUnited States · 19 kmHigh 5.9°C · Low -1.4°C · 105 mm rain
- Staten Island in DecemberUnited States · 20 kmHigh 6.4°C · Low -0.7°C · 100 mm rain
- Yonkers in DecemberUnited States · 26 kmHigh 5.6°C · Low -1.2°C · 102 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 New York City) is explained once on the New York City year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Brooklyn and Manhattan lie in the same rainfall cell, so their rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.