Why hasn’t New York City had any snow this winter?
Snow has been a no-show this winter in New York City.
The city has seen only trace amounts of snow so far - below normal and quite a bit lower than the same time last year, the National Weather Service (NWS) reported. Typically, the Big Apple sees its first snowfall in early December.
The latest that New York City experienced snowfall was January 29, 1973, according to Fox Weather, meaning that 2023 is closing in on the 50-year record.
There’s no snow in the short-term forecast, either. No hazardous weather is expected through next Thursday in the New York metropolitan area, according to NWS.
The climate crisis and the current La Nina weather pattern are the main reasons for the lack of snow, meteorologists say.
Rising greenhouse gas emissions, largely from burning fossil fuels, are increasing average global temperatures resulting in myriad consequences including more extreme weather. The past eight years have been the hottest eight on record globally, the United Nations confirmed this week.
So far this winter, we have not seen much snowfall in the local area and this is below normal and quite a bit lower compared to this same time last year. Central Park, NY and Kennedy, NY have only had trace amounts of snow this winter season so far. #NYwx #NJwx #CTwx pic.twitter.com/CNhTPLKjHB
— NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) January 8, 2023
Winter is the fastest warming season across much of the US and like everywhere else, New York City will see more severe climate impacts in the coming decades. Among these will likely be decreased snowfall and increased winter rain.
The world is also in its third year of a La Nina, a natural, cyclical cooling of parts of the equatorial Pacific that impacts weather around the world, and the flipside of the warming caused by an El Nino.
The El Nino and La Nina phenomenons are one of the largest natural effects on climate, at times enhancing or masking the human-driven climate crisis.
While New York City remains unseasonably warm, the state has not escaped brutal conditions this winter. In late December, parts of New York state were hit with blizzards and subzero temperatures from the bomb cyclone which swept large parts of the country.
In the Buffalo area, almost 40 people died over the holiday period in the region’s deadliest storm in generations. Thousands of homes were left without power and neighborhoods cut off by more than four feet of snow.
With additional reporting from AP
