It’s official – the summer of 2003 was one big, horrible hodgepodge of miserable weather.
Not only did June break a 100-year-old record as the wettest month in history, but July and August saw an abysmal 12-day marathon of rain and clouds that killed most fun in the sun. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the city saw at least some rain on 48 days.
“It was a rough summer, if you like hot weather and like the beach,” said Nelson Vaz, a National Weather Service forecaster. “We had disturbance after disturbance in the area. That kept us cloudy and damp.”
And Mother Nature wouldn’t even cut us a break on Labor Day – as scattered showers socked the metropolitan area yesterday and mercury hovered in the low 60s.
Beach outings, outdoor concerts and backyard barbecues were all spoiled.
At Coney Island, lifeguard Stefan Dan, 18, of Brooklyn, kept watch over a nearly deserted beach. “I only saw one person get in the water . . . The summer’s over,” Dan lamented.
That one brave soul, Henry Chin, 68, of Elmhurst, Queens, said he was determined to make the best of a bad situation.
“The water’s warm. I’m just taking advantage of the last day of summer because time just goes by so fast,” Chin told The Post. June saw a total rainfall of 10.27 inches – which broke the 1903 record of 9.78 inches.
And while July actually had just 3.76 inches of rain – less than the average of 4.53 – things went downhill fast when an unending streak of rain and clouds hit the city on July 31 and didn’t end until Aug. 11.
Health experts say the effects of the soggy 2003 season will be felt psychologically for months to come because of the lack of long bursts of sunshine.
“For many people, SAD [seasonal affective disorder] continued into the summer because of the lack of light,” said psychologist Dr. Robert Butterworth. “It causes a low-grade depression – you just don’t feel alive.” Any hint of Indian summer in the coming weeks could lead to hooky-playing by adults and kids.
“If Indian summer hits with a vengeance, people are going to try to take advantage of it to make up for what they missed. You’ll see an increase in sick days,” Butterworth said.
He added that aside from the bad weather, New Yorkers were jolted out of their vacation moods by the blackout on Aug. 14.
And the weather won’t be improving anytime soon.
Today will see a mix of steady rain and scattered showers, with the mercury straining to crack 70 degrees. There’s a 40 percent chance of rain tomorrow and a 60 percent chance on Thursday.
The weekend looks awful, too. On Friday, it will be mostly cloudy with a chance of showers during the day. And it will stay overcast through Monday.
CRUEL SUMMER
* Total rainfall for Summer of 2003: 19.88 inches
* Normal average rainfall in summer: 12.17 inches
* Rainest month of Summer 2003: June with 10.27 inches
* Longest stretch of rain – July 31-Aug. 11th with 5.57 inches
* Most rain in one day: June 4, 2.75 inches
* Hottest day: July 5, 94 degrees
* Coldest day: June 4, 50 degrees
Readings from Central Park
Source: Accuweather