New Years weather has historically been surprisingly tranquil, with some exceptions. Highs are generally in the 30s or 40s and significant snowfalls have been rare. Check out these records for some of the holiday’s biggest extremes.
New Years Eve Normals
High: 37
Low: 24
Mean: 30
Precipitation: 0.09″
Snowfall: 0.2″
New Years Day Normals
High: 37
Low: 23
Mean: 30
Precipitation: 0.10″
Snowfall: 0.3″
Temperature Records
Top 10 Coldest New Years Eve Highs
1. 1880: 10
2. 1976: 13
3. 1899: 16
4. 1917, 1962: 17
5. 2017: 19
6. 1894, 1998: 23
7. 1881, 1963, 1983, 2001: 24
8. 1914, 19161, 1997: 25
9. 1939, 1946, 2014: 26
10. 1935: 27
Top 10 Coldest New Years Day Highs
1. 1928: 8
2. 1968: 10
3. 2018: 11
4. 1977: 12
5. 1900: 16
6. 1969: 17
7. 1898, 1918: 18
8. 1940: 19
9. 1999: 20
10. 1881: 21
Top 10 Coldest New Years Eve Lows
1. 1976: -5
2. 1880: -3
3. 1899, 1963: 1
4. 1961, 1962, 2017: 2
5. 1983: 3
6. 1935, 1939: 6
7. 1902, 1917: 7
8. 1878, 1927, 1968: 8
9. 1960, 1967: 10
10. 1914, 2000: 11
Top 10 Coldest New Years Day Lows
1. 1968: -6
2. 2018: -2
3. 1928: -1
4. 1881: 0
5. 1977: 1
6. 1945: 2
7. 1940: 3
8. 1898, 1918, 1963: 4
9. 1900, 1969: 5
10. 20001: 6
Top 10 Coldest New Years Eve Means
1. 1880: 3.5
2. 1976: 4
3. 1899: 8.5
4. 1962: 9.5
5. 2017: 10.5
6. 1917: 12
7. 1963: 12.5
8. 1961, 1983: 13.5
9. 1939: 16
10. 1935: 16.5
Top 10 Coldest New Years Day Means
1. 1968: 2
2. 1928: 3.5
3. 2018: 4.5
4. 1977: 6.5
5. 1881, 1900: 10.5
6. 1898, 1918, 1940, 1969: 11
7. 1963, 1999: 13.5
8. 1887: 15
9. 2001: 16
10. 1974: 16.5
Top 10 Warmest New Years Eve Highs
1. 1951: 68
2. 1965: 63
3. 2010: 62
4. 2006, 2018: 61
5. 1992: 60
6. 1884, 1978: 59
7. 1972: 58
8. 1923, 1936: 57
9. 1906, 1933, 2004: 54
10. 1896, 1984, 2002: 53
Top 10 Warmest New Years Day Highs
1. 1952: 67
2. 1985: 65
3. 1890: 62
4. 1897: 61
5. 1930: 60
6. 1916, 1921, 1979: 59
7. 2011, 2019: 58
8. 1955: 57
9. 1905, 1934, 1948: 56
10. 1892, 1919, 2012: 55
Top 10 Warmest New Years Eve Lows
1. 1965: 52
2. 2004: 50
3. 2006, 2010: 45
4. 1951: 44
5. 1918, 1978: 43
6. 1937, 1947, 2002: 41
7. 1896, 1933, 2011: 39
8. 1906, 1929, 1931, 1972: 37
9. 1995, 2018: 36
10. 1883, 1888, 1936, 1984, 2005: 35
Top 10 Warmest New Years Day Lows
1. 1930: 47
2. 2005: 46
3. 1892: 43
4. 1891: 42
5. 1916, 1921, 1950, 1966: 41
6. 1897, 1905, 1932, 2019: 39
7. 1941, 1942, 1952: 38
8. 1890, 1907, 1996, 2007: 36
9. 1948, 1959: 35
10. 1886, 1943, 1967, 1992, 1997: 34
Top 10 Warmest New Years Eve Means
1. 1965: 57.5
2. 1951: 56
3. 2010: 53.5
4. 2006: 53
5. 2004: 52
6. 1978: 51
7. 2018: 48.5
8. 1972: 47.5
9. 2002: 47
10. 1933, 1937, 1992: 46.5
Top 10 Warmest New Years Day Means
1. 1930: 53.5
2. 1952: 52.5
3. 1897, 1916, 1921: 50
4. 1890, 1892, 1985, 2005: 49
5. 2019: 48.5
6. 1891: 48
7. 1905, 1950: 47.5
8. 1966: 46.5
9. 1942: 46
10. 1948: 45.5
New Years Eve High Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
0 or Below: 0
1-9: 0
10-19: 6
20-29: 18
30-39: 51
40-49: 43
50-59: 19
60 and Above: 6
New Years Day High Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
0 or Below: 0
1-9: 1
10-19: 8
20-29: 20
30-39: 47
40-49: 40
50-59: 22
60 and Above: 5
New Years Eve Low Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
0 or Below: 2
1-9: 13
10-19: 27
20-29: 48
30-39: 43
40-49: 8
50-59: 2
60 and Above: 0
New Years Day Low Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
0 or Below: 4
1-9: 15
10-19: 26
20-29 51
30-39: 39
40-49: 8
50-59: 0
60 and Above: 0
Precipitation Records
Top 10 Wettest New Years Eves
1. 2018: 1.01″
2. 1887: 0.89″
3. 1886: 0.76″
4. 1879: 0.74″
5. 1944: 0.71″
6. 1978: 0.67″
7. 1927: 0.49″
8. 1974: 0.47″
9. 1897, 1989, 2006: 0.46″
10. 1965: 0.41″
Top 10 Wettest New Years Days
1. 1948: 1.28″
2. 2021: 1.04″
3. 1916: 1.02″
4. 1979: 0.89″
5. 1919: 0.71″
6. 1959: 0.62″
7. 1893: 0.60″
8. 2003: 0.54″
9. 1964: 0.50″
10. 1965: 0.48″
New Years Eve Precipitation by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 43
Trace: 34
0.01-0.24: 46
0.25-0.49: 14
0.50-0.99: 5
1.00 or More: 1
New Years Day Precipitation by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 49
Trace: 34
0.01-0.24: 37
0.25-0.49: 14
0.50-0.99: 6
1.00 or More: 3
Top 10 Snowiest New Years Eves
1. 1897: 3.6″
2. 1892: 3.0″
3. 1960: 2.6″
4. 1967: 2.4″
5. 2009: 2.1″
6. 1980: 2.0″
7. 1973: 1.9″
8. 1998, 2012: 1.7″
9. 1887: 1.6″
10. 1961: 0.9″
Top 10 Snowiest New Years Days
1. 1964: 5.2″
2. 1883: 3.9″
3. 1887: 2.5″
4. 1970: 2.2″
5. 1884: 1.8″
6. 1945: 1.7″
7. 1961: 1.6″
8. 1928: 1.3″
9. 1918: 1.2″
10. 1981: 1.1″
Top 10 Snowiest New Years Holidays (Both December 31st and January 1st Combined)
1. 1963-1964: 5.2″
2. 1960-1961: 4.2″
3. 1892-1893: 4.0″
4. 1882-1883: 3.9″
5. 1897-1898: 3.6″
6. 1980-1981: 3.1″
7. 2009-2010: 2.7″
8. 1969-1970: 2.6″
9. 1886-1887: 2.5″
10. 1967-1968: 2.4″
New Years Eve Snowfall by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 89
Trace: 27
0.1-0.4: 13
0.5-0.9: 4
1.0-2.4: 7
2.5-4.9: 3
5.0 or More: 0
New Years Day Snowfall by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 86
Trace: 28
0.1-0.4: 12
0.5-0.9: 4
1.0-2.4: 10
2.5-4.9: 2
5.0 or More: 1
Top 5 Deepest New Years Eve Snow Depths since 1940
1. 2012: 7″
2. 1973, 2000: 4″
3. 1960, 1976, 2017: 3″
4. 1961, 1995, 1997, 2009: 2″
5. 1967, 1969, 1993, 1998, 2020: 1″
Top 5 Deepest New Years Day Snow Depths since 1940
1. 2013: 9″
2. 1961: 6″
3. 2001: 4″
4. 1974, 1977: 3″
5. 1940, 1945, 1962, 1968, 1981, 2018: 2″
For more local weather records, visit:
Weather History
And for current local weather and forecasts, visit:
Wilmington National Weather Service