Weirdly Warm NYC Weather Fascinates Forecasters

NEW YORK CITY — You're not imagining it, New York City's weather has been weirdly warm and free of snow this February, forecasters say.

New York is one of 35 cities across the northeast to see what the Northeast Regional Climate Center called "a fascinating February" with temperatures up to 8 degrees warmer than usual from Feb. 1 through Feb. 15.

That may not sound like much, but consider New York City's average temperature this month — just below 40 degrees — was 4 degrees warmer than normal.

That's a 10 percent increase of the normal February average of 35.9 degrees.

Central Park's average February temperature, 40.5 degrees, is the seventh warmest on record, according to the National Weather Service.

New York's warmest February was in 2018 with an average of 42 degrees and one day that reached near 70.

This has also been one the least snowy Februarys in New York City's history, the climate center reports.

Instead of their normal 4.9 inches of snow, the John F. Kennedy and La Guardia airports saw none and Central Park a mere trace, the analysis shows.

"If there is no trace of snow for the rest of the month," the National Weather Service tweeted, "this would be the only time on record that these sites have had no snowfall in the month of February."

Snow recordings in Central Park observations date back to 1869, La Guardia to 1940, and John F. Kennedy to 1948, NWS clarified.

Finally, New York City saw one of its wettest Februarys with more than 2.2 inches of rain reported falling at Kennedy Airport, 165 percent the normal 1.3 inches, forecasters said.

This spate of weirdly warm and wet weather is likely to persist this week, with the National Weather Service predicting highs in the upper 40s and low 50s and rain on Wednesday.

Here's the forecast for the week ahead, courtesy of the National Weather Service:

Monday

Increasing clouds, with a high near 55. Southwest wind 5 to 8 mph.

Monday Night
A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly after 3am. Cloudy, with a low around 42. South wind 3 to 6 mph.

Tuesday
A chance of rain or light rain before 7am, then a chance of light rain between 7am and 2pm, then rain likely after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 51. East wind 3 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Tuesday Night
A 40 percent chance of rain or drizzle, mainly before 10pm. Cloudy, with a low around 43. Northeast wind 6 to 8 mph.

Wednesday
Showers, mainly after 2pm. High near 50. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Wednesday Night
Showers, mainly before midnight. Low around 38. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Thursday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 45.

Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 28.

Friday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 38.

Friday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26.

Saturday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 35.