Thanksgiving weather in Syracuse: traditionally a cornucopia of possibilities

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Late fall weather in Central New York is known for its wild swings and Thanksgiving weather is no exception. The weather for Thanksgiving Day in Syracuse has ranged from highs in the 60s to more than 5 inches of new snow on the ground!

You may remember the year the turkey was extra dry or the year your Aunt made THE BEST apple pie. But, how about the year that was the coldest on record? To find that, you won’t have to go back too far in time because just two years ago, the high temperature was only 16 degrees, and the low was 5 degrees. We also had more than half an inch of new snow on the ground that Thanksgiving.

Digging a little deeper into that cornucopia of memories, back when Windows 1.0 was released, if you were around Syracuse in 1985, you experienced the snowiest of Thanksgivings. A total of 5.5″ of snow fell that day (November 28), giving Central New Yorker’s an instant opportunity to hit the slopes and work off all the turkey, potatoes and pie.

About 27% of Thanksgivings in Syracuse have had measurable snow. About 21% of Thanksgivings were white with measurable snow on the ground.

The wettest Thanksgiving was way back in 1921, when more than half an inch of precipitation fell. About 58% of our Thanksgivings feature rain and/or snow.

Thanksgiving 1908, it was the warmest on record with a high of 65 degrees. We’ve had 8 other Thanksgivings with highs in the 60s, the most recent was 2012.

SYRACUSE AVERAGE THANKSGIVING:

HIGH: 43.1

LOW: 29.6

2020 THANKSGIVING FORECAST:

This year doesn’t look like it’ll make the weather record books. Temperatures for CNY on Thanksgiving are projected to be a little above average. No snow this year, but there will be some rain showers around.

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