
WINTER WEATHER
Overview
The winter months in New York City subject residents to prolonged periods of extremely cold temperatures and a variety of storms that sometimes deliver large amounts of snow, ice, sleet, freezing rain, and strong winds.
The number of storms per season, the amount of snow from each storm, and prolonged periods of extreme cold can take a toll on people, buildings, infrastructure, and the economy. Hazardous wintry conditions also induce dangers like traffic accidents, power outages, hypothermia, and frostbite.
In the future, climate change could cause winter weather to be warmer, the length of New York City’s snow season to decrease, and snowfalls to become less frequent. However, despite these overall climate trends, individual winter weather events in New York City will still have the potential in the future to deliver as much snow and snow cover as they do today.