In addition to the lack of snow, closing out the first month of 2023 yesterday set another climate record: It was the “warmest” January in New York City since the 1860s.
All 31 days in January 2023 showed a temperature above the historical average in NYC. “It was the first time the city had accomplished such a feat since records began in the 1860s. For those who don’t love math, that means 31 days in the same month with warmer-than-average temperatures and zero hotter days. cold”, summarized NBC News.
Additionally, and without surprises, there was no snow this January -nor in December-, something that had not happened in 154 winters in NYC. This morning, the first of February, a miniscule accumulation of snow of less than half an inch (0.4″) in Central Park marked the latest “snowfall” in the city for exactly 50 years.
The city did see some flakes last week, but the snow needs to add up to at least a tenth of an inch in Central Park to count as measurable.
Until today’s snowfall, exactly half a century ago (1973) there had been the latest snow accumulation on record: that year the first was on January 29 with 1.8 inches.
Now February has arrived cold: a drop in temperature is expected starting tomorrow night and lasting until Sunday, with clear skies.
Although there had been no snow in NYC, earlier this winter a gust of arctic air swept through the tri-state area at Christmas time bringing record cold and tragedy to the region with a lengthy snowfall that killed at least 38 people in upstate.
Weather updates can be found here and on the National Weather Service (NWS-NY) website.