​In January 2016, New York was approaching 70 cm of snow, and the images were spectacular. This year, no snow fell in the famous metropolis, and the weather will be the first. The case of New York shows how much winters have shortened over the last century.

Weather observations have been made in New York’s Central Park since 1869, but it’s never been this late in the winter without a layer of snow. In 1973, on January 29, there was the last first winter snow that formed a snow cover.

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In 2023, there was no snow at all in January and it was extremely warm, the maximum in New York reached +18.9 C on January 4. And in New York, January was an extremely warm month, on 12 days the air temperature exceeded +10 degrees. The nights were too warm for snow, only one had frost and several 7-8 degrees.

In the coldest years in New York, it is -18 C, and snow storms are severe.

Due to urbanization and climate change, the average date of the first snowfall in New York has shifted to mid-December compared to December 1900. On average, the last snowfall has moved two weeks earlier in the year, so the winter has been shortened by more than 25 days in 120 years.

Another record is about to fall: New York’s longest snow-free period. Tuesday was the 328th day without snow, very close to the all-time record for days without measurable snow of 332 days. This range was from mid-January to mid-December 2020.

When was the heaviest snowfall in New York:

69.3 cm on January 29, 2016

66.3 cm on December 26, 1947

61.2 cm on February 12, 2006

Sources: Washington Post, New York Times, infoclimat.fr

Photo source: Dreamstime.com