In a month (till now) and winter that’s been mild or even warm, this past two morning’s are made all the more remarkable. Less than 10 days ago the very places which have seen it coldest, experienced their warmest February days on record.
The last two winters have seen the rise and hype of the ‘polar vortex’, this morning more than any other going back some 22 years, has more merit than any.
Credit: Hamilton Weather
This is no ordinary cold outbreak but the strongest push of pure Arctic/Siberian air in at least 22 years from Toronto down to New York City. As for Boston? This morning was the coldest in 59 years!
February 2015 went down as one of the most brutal with one snowstorm after the next which tipped Boston over the edge for annual snowfall. The storms we’re coupled with persistent brutal cold.
Then there’s this February, hot on the heels of a ridiculously warm December followed by a closer to normal but still warmer than normal January which ended with a record snowstorm. Central Park, NY fell within 0.1″ shy of the all-time snowfall record within a 24 hour period. February opened balmy.
Credit: Michael Ventrice
The December through February 13th period stands as the warmest on record throughout the Northeast and much of the East Coast.
THEN THIS CAME ALONG….
The below rainbow infrared animation shows beautifully the rush of pure Arctic/Siberian air (vivid yellow) advancing southeastward out of Canada.
Just look at these 850mb temperatures over the Northeast this Sunday morning.
Credit: AccuWeather Pro
Thanks to this…
Credit: Met Check
Yesterday saw the core of cold over the Toronto to Montreal corridor with the coldest air and wind chills in many years.
Credit: The Weather Network
Toronto experienced -26C, lowest temperature since January 1994 with a brutal wind chill registering -40C. Montreal experienced -40 wind chills which was their lowest since January 2004.
This morning has the core of cold over New England.
Forecast Sunday morning minimums according to the NWS.
Actual lows.
Boston area
Credit: WeatherBug
New York City area
Credit: WeatherBug
Watertown, NY takes the prize for coldest in the Northeast.
Credit: WeatherBug
Wind chills at sunrise were downright extreme with -40s in western Connecticut while it was nearly -50 in upstate New York and New England.
Credit: WeatherBell
As we saw with Saturday morning lows on the north side of Lake Ontario, temperatures dropped lower than what the models showed.
-1 at Central Park was not just the coldest for NYC since 1994 but it was also the coldest February low since 1967.
People walk down 8th avenue in New York February 13, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
-9 in Boston marks the coldest day since 1957.
Some very impressive wind chills to go with the record cold in the Boston area.
Credit: Cindy Fitzgibbon @Met_CindyFitz
The more impressive aspect to Central Park’s -1 reading was the fact there was no snow cover!
More information will be added to this post as information and stats come in.
See this morning’s video for the discussion.
TOP IMAGE CREDIT: Caitlin @moremimosas
[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)]
[/s2If][s2If current_user_cannot(access_s2member_level1)][magicactionbox id=”18716″][/s2If]
Recent Comments