NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – It will be an unseasonably warm New Year’s Eve in the New York City area—with temps around 50 degrees in Times Square at midnight under the threat of heavy rain. But the mild weather won't last, as forecasters are predicting the possibility for the "coldest January since 2011."
Temps on Tuesday will be about 10 degrees above average for this time of year, with a high of 53 in Central Park. While the day will start sunny, it'll become increasingly cloudy throughout the day, and rain will arrive by evening, according to AccuWeather.
Heavier periods of rain—and even some rumbles of thunder—are possible late Tuesday evening and night, as a million people gather in Times Square to ring in 2025. The rain will taper off overnight, and lows will dip to 47.
New Year’s Day will be mostly cloudy and windy, with a stray shower. Highs will near 50 again.
However, the rest of the week will feel very much like January as chilly temps and blustery conditions settle in. Highs will struggle to reach 40 on Thursday and Friday, and they’ll head into the 30s over the weekend.
The frigid temps appear to be a preview of what's to come in the weeks ahead, according to AccuWeather, which says the first half of January may be so cold that it "could end up being the coldest January since 2011 for the U.S. as a whole."
The "Arctic Express" will envelop the Eastern, Central and Southern states beginning next week, starting over the northern Plains and moving southeast. The cold pattern is likely to be "strewn with various storms," meaning winter weather may soon be in the forecast for a swath of the eastern U.S.