New York City’s snow-free streak will set a record for the all-time “first measurable snow” record of 327 days without snow — with no forecast of fluffy, powdery flakes anytime soon.
Measurable snow is defined as a tenth of an inch or more of snow, and while there’s been a few flakes here and there this winter so far, there hasn’t been any “measurable snow,” according to the official Central Park snow station.
The Big Apple’s seasonally mild weather has now broken a record for the longest snowless season, surpassing the record previously set in the winter of 1972-73, when the city recorded its first “measurable snow” of 1.8 on January 29, 1973 customs saw.
On Sunday, the Big Apple officially broke the record for the longest season without a measurable snowfall, with the last snowfall recorded on March 9, 2022, and many New Yorkers miss the quintessential sledding, snowball fights, and snowman building accustomed to this time of year.
FOX weather forecaster Jane Minar told Yahoo, “At this point I don’t even want a big snowstorm, I just want a tenth of an inch.” “Just enough to record[the snowfall]. That’s about the width of two dimes… that’s just nothing,” she said.
Graphic from the National Climatic Data Center shows the longest snow-free streak in New York City
New York City’s 10-day forecast shows cool temperatures hitting about midweek with temperatures in the 30s, but no snow is expected.
And Sunday marked the second warmest January on record. If New York City can go up to 333 days without a measurable snowfall, it will be its longest snowless streak on record, and it could surpass that, weather experts say, NBC4 NY News reported.
New York City isn’t the only area feeling the drought, other I-95 cities like Boston and Philadelphia have also experienced drier and warmer-than-usual seasons, with the latter not more than a tenth of an inch since Nov. 1 have seen. according to the weather channel.
Boston saw just over a quarter of its average powder snow during the same period.
This contrasts with other parts of the country like Buffalo, which recorded more than 60 inches of snowfall in December and more than 27 inches in parts from south-central South Dakota, northeast to western Minnesota, according to the National Weather Channel.
The Big Apple is supposed to see snow, but the thunderstorm turns to rain before hitting the ground in the famous city.
“The record for the last measurable snow is today — and obviously it’s going to be way too warm to see anything resembling snow,” Fox Weather meteorologist Christopher Tate told The New Port Post.
“The last first recorded snow is January 29, 1973, and we’re going to break it today because we’re not going to see snow today,” Tate said.
For snow to fall, the air must be cold enough to turn the precipitation into snow.
New York City has yet to experience these conditions this year.
“It’s been a very, very, very mild winter for New York City this season. It’s just been so unusually warm this winter so far,” Tate said.
“The times we had moisture in place it was just too warm to wear anything other than the three times we’ve seen this season,” he continued.
The chart shows the warmest “January” since records began
People walk through a mix of sleet and snowfall in downtown Brooklyn, New York on January 25, 2023. New York City has gone 321 consecutive days without a detectable snowfall, according to the US National Weather Service
A mix of sleet and snow will fall in downtown Brooklyn on January 25, 2023 but the 10-day forecast expects cool temperatures but no sign of snow
A couple walks on the Brooklyn Bridge as snow falls in New York City, United States, as a massive snowstorm hits the east coast on January 29, 2022
The pond in Winter Central Park with the famous Plaza Hotel and the skyscrapers of Manhattan in the background on one of the snowier days in New York City. According to the Weather Channel, the last time New York City saw measurable snow was March 9, 2022
This photo was taken a year ago on January 29, 2022. The last snowfall in New York City was recorded on March 9, 2022
Rain has turned to snow in New York City and northern New Jersey. Some snow rates can reach as much as 1-2 inches per hour. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather warning for New York City and the surrounding area. A winter storm warning has been issued far to the north and west.
According to the Weather Channel, the last time New York City saw measurable snow was March 9, 2022.
It’s totally unusual for the Big Apple, which is usually hit in mid-December.
According to the National Weather Service, measurable snow is anything larger than a tenth of an inch.
However, there is potential for New York City to finally see snow next month.
February is usually the snowiest month in the city.
“There are some very, very early signs that there might be something later this week or early next week,” Tate said.
Outside of NYC, cities up and down Interstate 95 — which runs from Maine down into Florida — have also remained without measurable snowfall so far this winter.
Along with Boston and Philadelphia, Washington DC and Baltimore, Maryland has also seen little to no snow this season.
Newark, New Jersey has only seen a tenth of an inch so far.
Boston has seen about seven inches of snowfall since November, but that’s well below the thirty-year average of about 24 inches.
The problem also affects ski resorts in the Northeast.
What is typically considered “high season” for ski season in states like Maine and Vermont has been shattered by the warmer temperatures.
“Lately it just hasn’t been cold enough for a lot of ski resorts to make snow effectively,” Spencer Spellman, editor-in-chief of On The Snow, told Fox Weather.
Baltimore and Washington also tend to see snowfalls through mid-December, but with their more southerly locations, late-season snowfalls are more common. The two cities both drove without snow until February.
The last Philadelphia that ever existed was February 3, except for the winter of 1972-73, when no measurable snow fell.
Snowfall was also unusually low in New York State.
Syracuse — typically one of the country’s snowiest cities — has fallen 24 inches this winter, three feet shy of the average for that part of the winter.
Rochester has only seen 15 inches, well below the 50 inches it normally sees by mid-January.
But in nearby Buffalo, record-breaking snowfalls have battered the city year-round.
More than 100 inches of snow fell on the city over the course of a series of vicious snowstorms that buried the city in December.
Over half of that snowfall came in a single storm last month.
The city typically sees about 60 inches of snow at this time in winter.
The Southwest has also seen unusual snowfall, including in Reno, Nevada, where at least 18 inches have fallen and already topped its 30-year average of 12.2 inches.
The northern Lake Tahoe area saw about 18 feet of snowfall in December — the largest accumulation that month in the past 142 years.
And while it hasn’t turned to snow, California has been steadily drowned in a barrage of non-stop rain and flooding for the past few weeks.