Bitter, dangerously cold Arctic wind to blast New York lows into single digits this weekend

We really shouldn’t complain about any weather conditions given how light the season has been. But, boy, it’s going to be very hard not to say something when the cold air heading into the New York area hits your skin this weekend.

The cold starts to set in on Tuesday night and remains chilly with mostly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 30s to 40s. In the morning it will be noticeably colder, with wind gusts up to +20. There may be intermittent rain or snowfall early in the morning, but the remainder of the day is otherwise dry.

The front will stop nearby until Tuesday evening and the swell could bring light snow, mostly to south Jersey, but New York could see some snowflakes as well, but no accumulation is expected in the city (more on that later).

Temperatures will hover between the high 30s and low 40s until Thursday when it starts to drop. Friday’s highs are likely to be near the freezing point and then the price will actually drop.

Dangerously cold winds (below freezing I think) will set in on Friday night, and this gust of Arctic air will linger until Saturday. Waking up on Saturday, we hope you don’t have to be anywhere outside: expect single-digit lows in the city, and it feels like -10. It will be even colder in the Hudson Valley and Connecticut (-18 in Bridgeport, -21 in Poughkeepsie).

If you have to get out of the house, be sure to pack up: it takes only 30 minutes (or less) for frostbite on any exposed skin, and even walking a few blocks to a subway station will be painful, especially if you’re windy.

There is good news: fortunately, the bitter cold will not last long. Temperatures will rise again to a much more tolerable low 40s on Sunday, along with a chance for some rain.

The weather will remain quite pleasant early next week as temperatures remain in the mid-to-40s until Thursday, with a chance of showers that day.

Meanwhile, not a drop of rain will fall, and the temperature is so piercing to the bone. If you haven’t noticed somehow, this is the trend of this winter.

For the first time (well, at least since the administration of Ulysses S. Grant), Central Park didn’t have a measurable amount of snow until January 30 of the winter season. According to National Weather Service records, the previous most recent first measurable snowfall date at the iconic site was January 29, which occurred during the winter of 1972-73.

There were a few gusts of wind in autumn and early winter, but reaching January 30 without snow on the ground set a new record.

During the winter, when parts of the country were covered in historic blizzards, including other parts of the Empire State, New York City saw a marked loss of whites. Lost might be an easy term, given that we haven’t seen any measurable snow so far, and it’s almost February. What else can we break?

Well, there’s no sign of a decent chance of snow for New York in the near-term forecast, so our next entries to keep an eye on include:

Longest snowless streak in history: As of Monday, we have six days left to eclipse the top spot. If we live to 333 days without measurable snow in New York, it will be the longest streak ever — and it could go beyond that.

Warmest January: As of Sunday, we are having the second warmest January on record. We’re only three dozen degrees off the anchor, so we’ll see what happens on Tuesday.

See more random facts about NYC’s least snowy winter here. Obtenga todos los detalles más recientes en español aquí.

Stay with Storm Team 4 for all the latest updates.

First average snow readings in Central Park

Yes, we have technically seen snow.cereals this season, but trace amounts of snow mixed with rain are not taken into account when recording weather data. (It’s not us, it’s the National Weather Service.)

Last winter, Central Park recorded its first measurable snowfall on December 23rd, although it was only 0.2 inches (so as you can see, “trace” amounts don’t really mean anything). On average, the city’s first measurable snowfall occurs on December 7th, so we’re already a month behind the average.

Looking at the region’s total snowfall and temperature records over time, “we’re starting to see consistent warming over the past 20 years that tells us there’s a climate problem here,” said New York State climatologist Mark Vysotsky.

He said that of the top ten list of the lowest total snowfalls measured in Central Park, five were in the 2000s, as were four of the highest winter temperatures.