Tag Archives: nyc

Fourth Nor’easter of the Month Slams NYC

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The calendar says spring, but it felt more like winter in New York City on Wednesday as the fourth nor’easter of the month slammed the region.

According to the NWS, the storm dumped 8.4 inches of heavy, wet snow in Central Park, setting a new daily snowfall record for the date. The previous record of 7.1 inches had been in place since 1958. The city, on average, gets 3.9 inches of snow for the entire month of March.

This storm was the fourth nor’easter to affect the city and region in less than three weeks. The others were on March 2, March 7, and March 13. This one, however, was by far the snowiest. It was also the first time since 1992 that the city saw at least 6 inches of snow from a spring storm.

The reason for the plethora of nor’easters this month involves something called the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Stuck in its negative phase for weeks, it has caused the jet stream to dip south over the eastern US and steer storms toward the northeastern seaboard.

View of the fourth nor’easter to hit the east coast this March. Credit:  RAMMB/CIRA/CSU

Second Nor’easter in Less Than a Week for NYC

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For the second time in less than a week, a nor’easter slammed New York City.

The storm intensified quickly and brought heavy snow, strong winds, and even thundersnow to the area. It downed trees and caused a number of travel disruptions, including nearly 2000 flight cancelations and the temporary suspension of all NYC Ferry service.

While the snow fell quickly, the surface temperature hovered just above freezing and did not allow much to accumulate. Only 3.2 inches of snow was reported in Central Park, according to the NWS. Areas north and west of the city received much higher storm totals.

GOES-16 image of nor’easter on March 7, 2018. Credit: NOAA

Weather Lingo: Venturi Effect

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March, a transitional month between winter and spring, is well known for its winds. In large cities like New York, however, the wind can be accelerated by something called the Venturi Effect.

Tall buildings and straight, grid-like streets essentially create man-made canyons that affect how the wind moves through a city. Funneled through the buildings, the wind is constricted and forced to speed up. The same process is seen when you put your thumb over the mouth of a hose to create a choke point and make the water flow faster.

The Venturi Effect is named for Giovanni Battista Venturi, an 18th-century Italian physicist.

Credit: Currents

Powerful Nor’easter Slams NYC

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A powerful nor’easter slammed the northeastern United States on Friday. Heavy precipitation, strong winds, and coastal flooding were reported across the region.

LGA airport. Credit: Chris Rudnick/Instagram

Here in New York City, 2.24 inches of rain fell in Central Park and wind gusts as high as 67mph were reported at JFK airport. These powerful winds canceled hundreds of flights, knocked down trees, and caused power outages in four of the city’s five boroughs. They also tore off a section of the roof of the American Airlines hangar at La Guardia airport and caused two tractor-trailers to flip over on the Verrazano Bridge.

Starting as an area of low pressure moving in from the west, this storm developed into a nor’easter over the Atlantic and then rapidly intensified. It underwent a process known as bombogenesis, the threshold for which is a drop in pressure of 24mb in 24 hours.This storm dropped 26mb in only 21 hours, producing its damaging winds.

Nor’easter of March 2, 2018. Credit: NOAA

February 2018: Warmest on Record in NYC

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February 2018 was New York City’s warmest February on record. Its mean temperature of 42°F was a staggering 6.7°F above the long-term norm. The previous record of 41.6°F was set just last year in February 2017.

Overall, we had nineteen out of twenty-eight days that were warmer than normal. Five of those produced readings in the 60s and one even hit 78°F, marking the warmest February day ever recorded in NYC. A record warm minimum temperature was also set on February 21 when the city only cooled down to 55°F. The average low for that date is 30°F.

While a few warm days in February are not that uncommon, this extended pattern of sustained warmth was very unusual. Driven largely by a persistent ridge in the jet stream, warm southern air was funneled northward almost continuously throughout the month.

February is usually the city’s snowiest month on the calendar, but Central Park only received 4.9 inches of snow this year. That is 4.3 inches below normal. Of that total, 4.4 inches fell during a single, quick-hitting storm when the air was briefly cold enough to support frozen precipitation.

Rainfall, on the other hand, was abundant with seventeen days posting measurable precipitation. In total, Central Park reported 5.83 inches of rain. That is 2.74 inches above average.

New York City weather records date back to 1869.

February 2018 was the warmest February on record in NYC. Credit: The Weather Gamut

Spring Preview Brings NYC Warmest February Day Ever Recorded

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The calendar says February, but it felt more like May in New York City on Wednesday. The temperature in Central Park soared to 78°F, setting not only a new record high for the date but marked the warmest February day ever recorded in the Big Apple.

Records are usually broken by fractions of a degree, but these were shattered. According to the NWS, the previous daily record, which was set in 1930, was 68°F and the former record monthly high that had been in place since February 24, 1985, was of 75°F. The city’s normal high this time of year is 43°F.

The primary driver of these unusually balmy conditions is a strong Bermuda High off the east coast of the US. Spinning clockwise, it is funneling warm southern air into the region.

Venturing out without coats and enjoying lunch alfresco, many New Yorkers took full advantage of this early spring preview. Personally, however, it felt a little surreal. February is typically the snowiest month of the year in NYC – a time when sledding and ice-skating are more common than ice-cream trucks and frisbees.

That said, these spring-like conditions will be short-lived. Temperatures are expected to return to more seasonable levels tomorrow. Get ready for weather whiplash!

Temperatures soared to record levels in NYC on Feb 21. Credit: The Weather Gamut

NYC Monthly Summary: January 2018

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January was another month of wild temperature swings in New York City. It produced part of the city’s third longest sub-freezing cold streak on record and a significant January Thaw. Overall, highs ranged from a frigid 13°F to an unseasonably balmy 61°F. In the end, however, these extremes just about balanced each other out. The city’s mean temperature for the month was 31.7°F, which is only 0.9°F below normal.

 

In terms of precipitation, January was unusually dry. In all, the city received 2.18 inches of rain, which is 1.47 inches below average. Snowfall, on the other hand, was abundant with 11.2 inches measured in Central Park. Of this total, 9.8 inches fell during a single storm on January 4 and set a new daily snowfall record for the date. The city, on average, gets 7 inches of snow for the entire month of January. Nonetheless, NYC is listed as “abnormally dry” in the latest report (Feb 1) from the US Drought Monitor.

Credit: The Weather Gamut

A January Thaw in NYC

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The calendar says January, but it felt more like spring in New York City on Tuesday. The temperature soared to 60°F in Central Park, a staggering 22°F above average for this time of year and 2°F shy of the record high for the date.

This unseasonable warmth is part of the “January Thaw” currently taking place in a large part of the eastern United States. After an extended cold blast, this is a period when winter’s grip relaxes a bit and temperatures rise at least 10°F above normal for a few days. It does not necessarily occur every year, but when it does, it is usually in mid to late January, hence the name.

With temperatures in the 50s since Saturday, many New Yorkers have been out in the parks enjoying the break from the cold. It is, however, still January. So, keep your winter gear handy.

Melting ice on The Lake in Central Park, NYC. Credit: Melissa Fleming

Art and Climate Change: “In Human Time”

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The inaugural exhibition of The Climate Museum in New York City has brought art and science together in an effort to expand public understanding of climate change. 

“In Human Time” explores the intersections of polar ice, timescales, and human perception. Installed at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at the Parsons School of Design (the museum is looking for a permanent home), the exhibit is divided into two parts. The first of which (December 20 – January 15) displayed Zaria Forman’s large-scale image, Whale Bay, Antarctica No. 4. Depicting calved glacial ice grounded in shallow water, it could easily be mistaken for a photograph captured in an instant. However, a time-lapse video alongside the piece reveals it to be a pastel drawing created by hand over many weeks.

Ice Cores. Credit: Peggy Weil

The second part of the exhibition (January 19 – February 11) focuses on the Arctic and highlight’s Peggy Weil’s 88 Cores. This slow-paced video is essentially one continuous pan that takes the viewer nearly two miles down into the Greenland ice sheet and more than 100,000 years back in time. Photographs of ice cores as well as artifacts and media that offer a science context to the Arctic ice accompany the artwork.

“The Climate Museum’s mission,” according to its website, “ is to employ the sciences, art, and design to inspire dialogue and innovation that address the challenges of climate change, moving solutions to the center of our shared public life and catalyzing broad community engagement.”

The exhibition is on view through February 11, 2018, at :
The Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries
Sheila C. Johnson Design Center
Parsons School of Design
66 Fifth Avenue, New York City

For more information, visit http://climatemuseum.org/home

“Whale Bay, Antarctica No. 4″, Pastel on Paper, 84″x144”. Credit: Zaria Forman.

NYC Sub-Freezing Cold Streak: Third Longest on Record

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The extended cold wave that has been gripping New York City earned a place in the record books as it came to an end on Tuesday when the temperature climbed above freezing for the first time since Christmas.

Brutally cold temperatures dominated the end of 2017 and beginning of 2018 in NYC. Credit: Melissa Fleming

In all, the city experienced fourteen consecutive days with temperatures below 32°F. That, according to the NWS, is the third longest sub-freezing cold streak ever recorded in Central Park. The coldest day came on January 6, when the mercury only made it to 13°F. The wind chill made it feel even colder.

These unusually frigid conditions were the result of a deep dip in the jet stream and a lobe of the polar vortex reaching southward over much of the eastern US. While a brief warm-up is expected over the next few days, it is still January so keep those hats and gloves handy.

Credit: NWS