New York City finally had a light dusting of snow at the beginning of the month after the longest “snow drought” in its history. New Yorkers traditionally complain about the regular winter snowfall bringing dirty slush and sidewalks blocked by piles of snow mixed with litter, but many have missed the equally traditional snow days off work and school spent skiing and sledging in Central Park.
The city usually gets its first winter snowfall around the middle of December. The previous record for late snowfall was set in 1973, when there was no snow until 29 January; this year the first flakes fell on 1 February. January was also unusually warm in New York, with above-average temperatures recorded every day for the first time.
Northern areas of New York state experienced heavy snowfalls earlier this winter, with a fall of more than 1 metre recorded in Buffalo near the Canadian border in December. Further south conditions have remained mild and wet. Meteorologists say that the global La Niña weather pattern that prevails is keeping cold fronts further north and west than usual.
However, February is statistically the snowiest month in New York, so there may be time for New Yorkers to catch up on saying how pretty the snow looks at first before complaining about the inconvenience.
