New York, New England: How Cold Was It?

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

January 3,2013; 8:00PM,EST

Temperatures took the plunge Wednesday night into Thursday morning across part of the Northeast.
Much of the area from northern upstate New York to interior New England dipped below zero due to thick snowcover and at least several hours of clear skies, light winds and an arctic air mass.
Below is a list of low temperatures (degrees Fahrenheit) on Thursday morning. For some locations, it was the coldest morning in a couple of years.

City	Low Thurs.	Lowest Last Winter		City	Low Thurs.	Lowest Last Winter
Burlington, Vt.

-10
-11

Montpelier, Vt.
-17
-16


Berlin, N.H.
-20
-20

Montreal, Quebec
-10
-11


Albany, N.Y.
-5
0

Glens Falls, N.Y.
-18
-6


Massena, N.Y.
-19
-15

Plattsburgh, N.Y.
-18
-7


Orange, Mass.
-10
-4

Windsor Locks, Conn.
0
4


Greenville, Maine
-8
-12

Nantucket, Mass.
16
15


Pawtucket, R.I.
7
7

New York, N.Y.
24
13


Boston, Mass.
7
6

Portland, Maine.
0
-4


New Castle, Pa.
0
7

Clearfield, Pa.
3
0



The temperature bottomed out at minus 26 degrees at Saranac Lake, N.Y.
Areas farther south in the mid-Atlantic and western New York remained in more of a polar rather than arctic air mass and experienced some moderation in temperature from the Great Lakes and/or patchy cloud cover.

Frost was thick on the windows Thursday morning in the Northeast. (Photos.com image)

The arctic high pressure system responsible for the very cold conditions is moving away. A weak storm, known as an Alberta Clipper, is moving eastward across the region Thursday with patchy clouds and spotty flurries.

A second Alberta Clipper will sweep through the region Friday into Friday night.

A second arctic high pressure area will settle over the area Saturday night. The core of the second air mass and the lowest temperatures are likely to be centered a bit farther north and east. Temperatures in much of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Brunswick and eastern Quebec are most likely to plunge below zero (Fahrenheit). Temperatures will dip to the single digits, teens and 20s father south and west in the Northeast.

While warmer air will make a visit to New England and upstate New York next week, it will likely be abbreviated and not as extreme when compared to portions of the Plains, Midwest and areas farther south along the East Coast.

AccuWeather.com Online Journalist Grace Muller has compiled a collection of photographs from the cold air in the Northeast Thursday morning.

How cold was it at your place Thursday morning?