Monthly Climate
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Best time to visit New York City

September is the best time to visit New York City for general sightseeing, with average highs of 24 °C and about 9 wet days. The comfortable season runs roughly May to June. The sea stays above 20 °C from July to September.

It depends what you are going for

One month rarely wins on everything. These are the best months on each measure taken on its own.

If you want Best month On that measure
Sightseeing and walking September comfort 89/100
A beach holiday August sea 23 °C
The least cloud October 51 % average cloud cover
The least rain November 77 mm
Warmth July 29 °C
Cooler weather January 3.5 °C

Ranked by comfort

# Month Comfort / 100 Avg high Wet days Beach
1 September 89 24 °C 9 74
2 May 85 21 °C 11 31
3 June 82 26 °C 11 62
4 October 80 18 °C 8 38
5 August 76 28 °C 11 81
6 July 72 29 °C 12 77
7 April 65 15 °C 11 14
8 November 55 11 °C 8 15
9 March 40 9.0 °C 10 11
10 February 31 4.8 °C 8 14
11 December 30 6.2 °C 10 11
12 January 30 3.5 °C 9 12

For a beach holiday

August scores highest, with a sea temperature of 23 °C and air temperatures around 28 °C. The sea is above 20 °C from July to September.

Month Sea Air Sunshine Beach score
January 6.0 °C 3.5 °C 58 % 12
February 4.3 °C 4.8 °C 56 % 14
March 4.8 °C 9.0 °C 58 % 11
April 7.9 °C 15 °C 60 % 14
May 13 °C 21 °C 61 % 31
June 18 °C 26 °C 59 % 62
July 22 °C 29 °C 54 % 77
August 23 °C 28 °C 53 % 81
September 21 °C 24 °C 52 % 74
October 17 °C 18 °C 51 % 38
November 13 °C 11 °C 55 % 15
December 9.0 °C 6.2 °C 59 % 11

When to think twice

January scores lowest with about 9 wet days and highs near 3.5 °C. That does not make it a bad month — it depends entirely on what you are travelling for. The numbers are all here; the judgement is yours.

The full year

Month Avg high Rainfall Cloud
January 3.5 °C 83 mm 58 %
February 4.8 °C 78 mm 56 %
March 9.0 °C 106 mm 58 %
April 15.4 °C 91 mm 60 %
May 20.7 °C 87 mm 61 %
June 25.7 °C 101 mm 59 %
July 28.6 °C 104 mm 54 %
August 27.5 °C 105 mm 53 %
September 23.8 °C 98 mm 52 %
October 17.5 °C 98 mm 51 %
November 11.5 °C 77 mm 55 %
December 6.2 °C 101 mm 59 %

Data sources and method

Normal period
1991–2020
Dataset version
era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: comfort score, beach score, season boundaries. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.