'Snow Drought': New York City's longest wait for winter's first snow with no signs of snowfall in near future

When someone thinks of winters in New York, the first image that comes to their mind is of Central Park and Manhattan Times Square laden with white snow. But this year, the Sunday in New York City looks barren as the city broke its 50-year-old record for having its first snowfall of the season. The city is also close to recording its highest number of consecutive days without any measurable flakes. This snowless streak has left New Yorkers puzzled.

"It's really sad", said a retired teacher Anne Hansen. "Basically, we don't like to see the snow. But now we're sorely missing it", she told AFP.

The city usually gets its first snowfall around mid-December, last season it was on Christmas eve. These snowy days are beloved by children and office workers the most as they get off some time from their school and work.

"You stay home, you drink hot cocoa; it's beautiful and the dog loves it", filmmaker Renata Romain told AFP.
Though this joy turns to despair fairly quickly as the snow turns yellowy-brown and trash piles up on the sidewalk.

"The snow is pretty to look at the first day, but afterwards it's dirty and I don't like it. It's slushy. It's nasty", added Romain.

Meteorologists define NYC snowfall as snow that measures at least 0.1 inches in Central Park. Some flakes fell last Wednesday but were not enough to count.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), The longest residents have had to wait for measurable snow was 29 January, which was last in 1973.

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No snow Sunday will mean the longest wait since records began in 1869. New York is also approaching its longest streak of consecutive days without snow. The current record is 332, which ended on 15 December 2020 as Sunday was the day 326. Accuweather has already declared the period a "snow drought."

"It's very unusual," NWS meteorologist Nelson Vaz told AFP, saying the global La Nina weather pattern was responsible for keeping colder fronts further north and west.

Up to 40 inches (one metre) of snow fell in Buffalo, New York state, near the Canadian border, in December, killing at least 39 people. But a few hundred miles southeast, in NYC and surrounding Atlantic coastal areas, the precipitation has meant lots of rain amid mild temperatures.

Only 1932 had a warmer first 25 days of January in New York than 2023, according to Weather.com. Scientists say climate change is causing winters to be warmer and shorter.

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