NEW YORK — From the Thanksgiving Day Parade to the ice skating at Rockefeller Center to the confetti-strewn celebrations in Times Square as the crystal ball dropped at midnight to ring in 2023, winter traditions abound in New York City.
Except for one missing item: Snow.
On Sunday, the Big Apple is tying its longest wait for its first winter snowfall. In the winter of 1972-1973, New York didn’t get any measurable snow until Jan. 29, when 1.8 inches finally coated the “city that never sleeps” with its first snow.
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While there have been a few occasional sightings of snowflakes in Manhattan this winter, the official measuring station in Central Park has yet to observe at least 0.1″ of snow, which is needed to be considered “measurable” snow and counted as a snowy day in the record books.
“At this point, I don’t even want a big snowstorm, I just want a tenth of an inch,” said FOX Weather Meteorologist Jane Minar, who is based at FOX Weather headquarters in New York City. “Just enough to record (the snowfall). That’s about the width of two dimes… that’s just about nothing.”
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How long will New Yorkers have to wait for measurable snow? At least the next several days.
While long-range forecasts are indicating another cold snap toward the end of the week and the start of next weekend with temperatures dropping well below freezing, there doesn’t appear to be any moisture to match.
The FOX Forecast Center currently isn’t predicting any significant chance of precipitation until at least a week from Monday, and by then, it appears temperatures will have once again warmed into the 40s to keep what falls as rain, though there may be a few snowflakes mixed in.
The snow drought looks to set a second record for the longest stretch of days with no measurable snow, currently at 332 days set between Jan. 19 and Dec. 15 in 2020.
New York currently sits in second place at 326 days through Sunday and should break the record on Feb. 5.