Things have been heating up in New York City ahead of Valentine’s Day, but forecasters warn the warm weather isn’t here to stay.
Temperatures in the Big Apple hit the high 50s Saturday, and even low 60s in some spots, tying the all-time high for the day, according to AccuWeather. The previous record, set just last year in Central Park, was 61 degrees.
Forecasters noted that many cities along the East Coast corridor were expected to record toasty temps over the weekend, but they’re also in store for a little bit of weather whiplash.
Cooler air, fueled by a storm forming in the South, will start making its way up the East Coast on Sunday, though meteorologists still expect the temperatures to remain fairly mild.
However, more cold air from Canada will force temperatures below freezing at the start of the week, making some heavy snowfall a real possibility. While the precipitation, set to strike the East Coast on Monday night, will most likely start out as rain in the city, it’s expected to transform into a slushy snow overnight and into Tuesday.
While the storm track could still shift in the coming days, the National Weather Service warned Saturday the “potential is increasing for an accumulating snowfall to occur in at least parts of the tristate Monday night.” Based on current forecast trends, the storm is likely to dump moderate to heavy snow from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts.
The Big Apple and the surrounding region could see up to a couple inches of snow — a notable and wintry change for the city. So far, New York has recorded just 2.3 inches of snow this season, matching the total hit in 2023, the least snowy year the city has experienced in a long time.
Last month, New York City broke a 700-day-long snow drought when a storm dropped a little over an inch in the city.