New Yorkers flocked to Manhattan’s Central Park on Sunday just 24 hours after the city was hit by some unseasonable May snow.
Mother’s Day weekend got off to a chilly start Saturday thanks to the polar vortex bringing cold air down from the north.
Snow was detected in New York City’s Central Park on Saturday, equaling a record set in 1977 for the latest snowfall of the year. Other parts of the state recorded snowfall in May than for the whole month of February.
But on Sunday, hundreds ventured out to Central Park to bask in the sun after the city recorded a high of 64F.
Photos showed people of all ages enjoying the warm weather in celebration of the holiday.
New Yorkers flocked to Manhattan’s Central Park on Sunday just 24 hours after the city was hit by some unseasonable May snow
Mother’s Day weekend got off to a chilly start Saturday thanks to the polar vortex bringing cold air down from the north. Snow was detected in New York City’s Central Park on Saturday, equaling a record set in 1977 for the latest snowfall of the year. But on Sunday, hundreds ventured out to Central Park to bask in the sun after the city recorded a high of 64F
Photos showed people of all ages enjoying the warm weather in celebration of Mother’s Day
Most families and groups appeared to practice social distancing while at the park, but there were several people who weren’t wearing masks
Dozens of people are seen gathered under the shade of a tree in Central Park on Sunday afternoon
While some basked in the sun, others stood around and chatted in groups (pictured) on Sunday
Some New Yorkers even popped open a few cans of Corona beer while sitting on the grass
A family is seen playing with a soccer ball in Central Park on Sunday afternoon
A man and woman sit back-to-back on the grass in Central Park on Sunday afternoon
Most families and groups appeared to practice social distancing while at the park, but there were several people who weren’t wearing masks.
Meanwhile in Domino Park in Brooklyn, police patrolled the area to make sure people were social distancing.
Photos of the park showed people walking and running with family and friends as officers stood nearby.
New York state has more than 345,000 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Sunday night. New York has reported more than 26,000 deaths.
The city has been under lockdown since the end of March and is the epicenter of the virus outbreak. As of Sunday it had more than 189,000 confirmed cases and a death toll of 14,482, with 5,313 probable deaths.
The warm weather in New York came just a day after it snowed in parts of the Northeast.
On Saturday, the National Weather Service (NWS) New York tweeted: ‘All 6 of our climate sites (EWR, NYC, BDR, LGA, JFK, ISP) reported a T of snow early this morning. Officially, the month of May has the exact same amount of snow as the month of February for 5 of these sites.
‘Islip, NY has officially had a snowier May than February.’
Groups of people are seen walking and chatting in an area of New York’s Central Park on Sunday afternoon
New Yorkers were seen walking and running near Rockefeller Park on Sunday afternoon
Residents of New York City are seen biking on the Hudson River Greenway on Sunday afternoon
In New York, some residents saw flurries drop into their backyards and the NWS reported there was snow in Central Park.
‘Snow in Central Park! In May!’ the NWS wrote. ‘The Central Park Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) recorded snow. This ties the record snow set in 1977.
New Yorkers shared their disbelief at the flurries, with @VoiceOfValor writing: ‘It snowed in NYC in May!!! As if 2020 wasnt crazy enough already.’
@vivekrjain added: ‘What is happening?’ @macmurph said: ‘This has been one wacky May. Never have I ever seen snow in the New York City metro area this late.’
Another user wrote: ‘I never thought I’d see snow in New York City in May. I wish that were the most notable thing I saw today that I never thought I’d see in New York City.’
Some higher elevation areas in northern New York and New England reported snowfall accumulations of up to 10 inches, while traces of snow were seen along the coast from Maine to Boston to as far south as Manhattan.
John Cannon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine, said parts of northern New England saw as much as 10 inches of snow and even coastal areas of Maine and New Hampshire got a dusting. There were even reports of flurries in Boston.
‘We’ve had several inches in many areas in the Northeast. This is a rare May snow event,’ he said.
The warm weather in New York came just a day after it snowed in parts of the Northeast. A man walks through the snow in the Times Square area on Saturday
‘Snow in Central Park! In May!’ the NWS wrote. ‘The Central Park Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) recorded snow. This ties the record snow set in 1977
Mother’s Day weekend got off to a chilly start thanks to the polar vortex bringing cold air from the north
‘In case you need anymore evidence the world is ending, it’s snowing in May in New York’, one resident said
The hardest hit areas were hill town communities like Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, which got 10.5 inches, and Carrabasset Valley in Maine, which got 9 inches, he said.
Conditions at the Mount Washington Observatory, atop the highest peak in the northeast, were downright arctic Saturday afternoon, with the wind chill at minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit and winds gusting at 87 mph.
In many areas, the snowfall was one for the record books, even if it didn’t stick around. Massachusetts had not seen measurable snow in May since 2002, while in Manhattan´s Central Park, the flakes tied a record set in 1977 for latest snow of the season.
The wintry weather came two days after Vermont began to lift restrictions on tennis, golf and other outdoor activities that had been imposed to curb the coronavirus outbreak.
Snow accumulated on the grass and vehicles in a neighborhood in Monroe, New York, on Saturday
Snow was seen on the grass and trees in a neighborhood in Syracuse, New York, on Saturday
A horse grazes on new grass poking through the snow at Wedgewood Stables in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, on Sunday
The greens and fairways are covered in snow, just as golf courses were starting to open for the season at Country Club of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Saturday
Gov Phil Scott tweeted sympathy to Vermonters frustrated by the weather following weeks of being inside.
‘I know snow on May 9th isn’t a welcome sight for many Vermonters, just as we´re cautiously allowing outdoor recreation to get going again,’ he wrote.
But this is just a snapshot in time. Just like better weather is ahead, better days will come, as well. We will get through this, together.’
the polar vortex is a batch of cold air that stays trapped in the Arctic all winter, but a couple times during the season, it wanders south and brings bone-chilling cold and snow to Canada and parts of the United States.
A low pressure system off the coast of southern New England helped pull cold air down from the north, said lan Dunham, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norton, Massachusetts.
Cannon said the snow will give way to strong winds upward of 40 and 50mph in much of the Northeast for the remainder of Saturday, along with unusually cold conditions.
There were freeze watches and warnings out for much of the Northeast.