An eight-day stretch of mild weather came to an abrupt end Thursday, as arctic air spilled into the tri-state behind a cold front. The wintry chill will be with us through next week, so get your warmest wardrobe ready.
Not only is cold air setting up shop, but a stiff breeze is delivering a biting wind chill. By Friday morning, wind chill values will be in the teens around the New York City metro area.
In outlying areas, especially north of the city, wake-up wind chills on Friday will be in single digits – or below zero in some higher elevations of the Catskills and the Poconos.
Throughout the day, the wind will be strong enough to create a wind chill about 10 degrees below the actual air temperature. Make use of your gloves, hats, ear muffs and scarves to minimize your exposed skin and stay as warm as possible while you’re outside.
We’ll get a brief bump in temperatures on Saturday – topping out with a seasonable 40-degree afternoon – before another rush of arctic air settles in on Sunday. Overall, Martin Luther King, Jr, weekend will be a cold one.
We’ll have an opportunity for a light rain/snow mix on Saturday and a few flurries Sunday, but no major weather systems will impact the tri-state area this weekend.
The coldest days of our cold snap will come on Tuesday and Wednesday, with afternoon temperatures generally holding in the 20s.
New York City’s coldest temperature recorded so far this winter is 19 degrees. We should beat that on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, when temperatures are forecast to be 16 and 18 degrees, respectively.
This latest cold snap comes amid a much colder-than-normal winter so far for New York City. Temperatures have averaged close to three degrees below normal this season. That’s in stark contrast to the previous spring, summer and fall, during which the city enjoyed temperatures slightly warmer than normal.
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