Carbin said that while daytime temperatures will most likely set records in many parts of the East, cloud cover will keep nighttime temperatures from being that extreme.The weather will feel punishing after a mild winter and a spring so pleasant that In New York City, where temperatures soared to 80 degrees on Sunday, the temperature on Friday night is expected to drop from the high 50s to about 38 degrees. ... Other late spring snow . Such a dip is often called a blocking pattern, and when it brings cold Arctic air into more temperate areas, it is referred to as a polar vortex.Mr. Parts of western Massachusetts In and around New York City, a damp Friday was predicted to descend into a rainy, blustery and maybe even snowy night, with temperatures falling below 40 degrees and wind gusts nearing 30 m.p.h.The storm is the result of an unusually cold air mass from Eastern Canada that will travel southward into the Eastern states, bringing March-like temperatures from New England to as far south as Alabama and Mississippi, according to the National Weather Service.“I would characterize the upcoming cold snap as highly unusual,” said Greg Carbin, chief of forecast operations at the Weather Prediction Center, part of the Weather Service.

It's a rare event: snow that sticks to the ground in April in New York City. It was the first trace of snow ever for Dulles Airport in Virginia on the 15th and Allentown, PA set a new daily record of 0.3 inches on the 16th. The record latest measurable spring snow there was on April 29, 1874. “It would be very hard to get much more unusual.”Mr. Image If a date has a plus sign beside it that means the same amount of snow also fell on at least one other day earlier in the year. “And it’s doing it quickly.”There is currently debate among scientists as to whether changes in the jet stream can be linked to climate change, specifically to the decline in sea ice in the Arctic Ocean that has contributed to rapid warming in that region.Mr. A similar brief period of snow also tied the latest spring snow on record at Newark-Liberty Airport.Some night owls documented the bizarre sight of New York City snow early Saturday morning.Measurable snow - at least 0.1 inch - has never been documented in May at New York City's Central Park, dating back to 1869. Carbin likened this jet stream pattern to a roller coaster, with the top over northwestern North America. “We’re going to see a large number of record-low temperatures from the Gulf Coast to Maine.”Mr. The cold snap may feel shocking even to New Englanders, but snow in May is not unheard-of in that region. “That air mass is what will be taking that roller coaster ride and down into the dip,” he said.This jet stream pattern has persisted for most of the past month, he said, and has contributed to unseasonably warm temperatures in much of western North America. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM. In fact, New York City measured an astounding 3.0 inches back on April 25th, 1875. Only three other seasons since 1869 were less snowy than 2019-20 in New York.Their last measurable snow this season was on January 18 (2.1 inches), which was also their heaviest snowfall this season.New York City was even outsnowed by Oklahoma City (5.1 inches) in 2019-20. A New York Times article in May 1977 referred to a spring snowstorm in New Jersey on May 10, 1906. In other years, we weren't as lucky. These extremes were measured at Central Park and go back to 1869, with a gap in records around 1900.

Carbin said the cold temperatures were a result of changes in the polar jet stream, the ribbon of high-altitude, fast-moving air that normally circles the globe over the Arctic. Carbin said it was not unusual in spring months to see this kind of blocking pattern.“It’s tough to pick out drivers for these weather regimes,” he said. Take control of your data:Radar recap from midnight through 2 a.m. EDT showed a mix of rain and snow moved across the New York City Tri-State area on May 9, 2020. The jet stream has dipped to the south over the Midwest and Northeast. Measurable snow - at least 0.1 inch - has never been documented in May at New York City's Central Park, dating back to 1869. But this late in the spring, more direct sun makes it less likely that the air will remain so cold. The upcoming cold snap is a result of the pattern becoming “amplified,” or more extreme, he said.“It’s now jumped to where you’re bringing in the coldest air,” Mr. Carbin said. The cold snap will interrupt a spell of spring weather that had been something of a salve and had driven people out of their homes to golf courses and parks.The National Weather Service has predicted that, beginning Friday night, the Arctic blast will move into the Northeastern states, bringing record cold temperatures. Unseasonably cold weather is expected to move into the Northeast on Friday night.Lilacs covered in snow in Littleton, Mass., on May 10, 1977. Here's a list of all the months of the year when snowfall can occur in New York. This page gives the highest daily snowfall of each year in New York City and the date it occurred.