This Has Been The Coldest February In 80 Years
February is finally ending. Seriously. We made it through, and there are only two days left of this wretched month. Today is the 69th day of winter. Not 569th, like it feels. But it wasn’t your imagination that the last 27 days have been some of the most freezing in recent memory. Unless there is a sudden 70 degree day tomorrow (and we would not be sad if that’s the case, to be honest), this February will go on record as the coldest one in New York City since 1934. As in the middle of the Great Depression.
“It was like the most sick month you can think of,” meteorologist Jay Engle told the New York Times about that 1934 winter. Temperatures that February averaged 19.9 degrees, and set the record for the coldest-ever day, with a reading of negative fifteen on February 9. Before that, the coldest February on record was in 1885, a time when things like Smartwool and telecommuting did not exist. So it wasn’t that bad out there this month. But it was still pretty lame. Can you remember the time you last walked down the sidewalk without having to stare intently at your feet for fear of dreaded ice slicks? Come on, March. We have some high hopes for you.