Syracuse TV meteorologist tallies temperature records since 2020: 34 highs, 1 low

Update: As of 2 p.m., Syracuse had reached 79 degrees, breaking the Nov. 5 record of 77, set two years ago. Today also becomes the warmest presidential Election Day since records began in Syracuse in 1902.
Syracuse, N.Y. — Over the past four years, Syracuse has seen a steady stream of record-warm days.
Here’s how many: The last time Syracuse saw a daily low temperature record was 1,506 days ago. Since then, Syracuse has posted 34 daily record highs, according to data compiled by Jim Teske, chief meteorologist at WSYR-TV.
That unbroken stretch of highs will likely reach 35 today: The record for Nov. 5 is 77 degrees, and Syracuse had already tied that by 1 p.m.
Teske’s analysis is one more indication of how warm the past few years has been in Syracuse. According to federal climate data, 2024 is, so far, the warmest year ever recorded in Syracuse. Last year was the fourth-warmest, and 2021 was the third-warmest.
Teske offered two possible reasons for the warm streak and the unbroken streak of record highs.
“Certainly over the last 12 months, we’re coming out of a very strong El Nino, which is a very strong background signal in terms of the record highs,” he said.
The other factor could be climate change. Over the past 20 years, Teske said, Syracuse has posted three times as many record highs as record lows.
“It makes me wonder whether that’s a symptom of climate change,” Teske said. “I don’t know that for sure, but it makes me very suspicious because that covers a long period of time.”
According to Teske’s data, the record highs kept getting more numerous each year. In the first full year of his analysis, 2021, Syracuse saw six record high daily temperatures. In 2022, there were 7; in 2023, there were 8.
So far this year, there have been 11 record highs — and today could be the 12th.
Teske noticed the abundance of record highs over the past few years as the television station was compiling its annual weather calendar. Curious, he started tallying them up, while keeping his eye out for any record-low days.
“I realized that you had to go back to September 21, 2020 for the last record low,” Teske said. “I did the counting from there and I got to 34 record highs after last Tuesday and Wednesday.”
It’s hard to say if the stretch of warm years we’re seeing is the new normal or an anomaly, Teske said. As a note of caution, he pointed out that the years 1972 to 1976 were the five wettest on record for Syracuse, all with 50 inches or more of rain.
“You could look at that say, oh my god, that’s the new norm,” he said. “But we haven’t been to 50 inches since then.”