The season of winter is still a month away, but record-breaking cold in the northeast is making it feel as if it’s here today. Across the northeast, records are being made or tied as frigid readings, in some cases the coldest in more than a hundred years, spread south.
The New York City office of the National Weather Service reported chilly temperatures across the Big Apple and surrounding towns. Temperatures this morning in Bridgeport, CT (18°), Newark, NJ (19°), JFK (20°), and LGA (21°) tied record lows reported in 1987. The National Weather Service says temperatures may fall lower before midnight, thus breaking the records completely tonight.
The Boston office of the National Weather Service also reported records. Worcester, Massachusetts broke their record low for today’s date. This morning’s low was a chilly 7 degrees, breaking the old record of 11 set back in 1987. Boston’s low this morning was 14, however this did not break the record low, 9 degrees set in 1879. Meanwhile, in Connecticut, Hartford’s record low for today’s date was broken. This morning’s low there was 11 degrees, breaking the previous record low of 14 degrees set in 1969.
The Mount Holly, NJ office of the National Weather Service, responsible for covering Philadelphia, Delaware, much of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and eastern Maryland says today’s highs may be low enough to trigger broken records. The record low maximum of 31 in Atlantic City (1996), 27 in Allentown (1996), 27 in Georgetown (1989), 20 in Mount Pocono (1901), 27 in Philadelphia (1901), 30 in Reading (1989), 30 in Trenton (1930), and 29 in Wilmington (1996) could all fall if temperatures struggle to hit those readings this afternoon during the maximum time of daytime heating.
While the bitter cold will linger in the region through tomorrow, temperatures will moderate this weekend, with temperatures rising enough to produce mainly rain later Saturday into Sunday across the northeast.
