New Yorkers experience coldest day in 65 years as frigid temperatures grip the nation, with snow and freezing rain on the way
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Friday, February 20, 2015, 6:59 AM
Updated: Friday, February 20, 2015, 8:54 PM
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JULIA XANTHOS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSThe Hudson River is frozen during Friday's frigid temperatures.
It was a F-F-Friday f-f-for the r-r-record books.
New Yorkers awakened to the coldest day of the year as the mercury dipped down to just 2 degrees in Central Park — shattering the 65-year-old record low for this date of 7 degrees, which was set back in 1950.
But relief — if you can call 30 degree temperatures and freezing rain relief — is on the way.
“We are looking at temperatures in the lower 30s and maybe 2 to 4 inches of snow Saturday before it turns into rain,” said meteorologist David Stark of the National Weather Service.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/GETTY IMAGESCommuters brave the cold temperatures on 42nd Street in New York on February 20.
By Sunday, “we could be touching 40 degrees,” said Stark.
Then it’s back into the ice box on Monday, when another wave of cold air will plunge temperatures back down to the 20s again, he said.
Herds of frozen New Yorkers were speed walking through Union Square to get out of the cold.
COLTER HETTICH/ NEW YORK DAILY NEWS PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONAmericans have been coping with freezing temperatures early Friday.
“I've got a cashmere sweater on, fur over that, a goose down feather jacket, the hat, a scarf, just multiple layers," said 52-year-old Larry McQuade of Brooklyn Heights.
But even that was not enough.
“When you walk against the wind it feels like your skin is being ripped off," McQuade said. "It's not fun, it's not good.”
Irina Fialko, 29, of Bushwick, instantly regretted her decision to leave her office for lunch.
"I'm so cold it hurts!" she said. "My lips aren't working right, I think I have a permanent cringe on my face.”
Ali Ahmed, 30, of Bay Ridge had no choice about being outside — he has manned a food cart at the corner of East 14th St. and 4th Ave. for a decade. But he was ready for the cold.
"I wear two pairs of socks, thermals, two hoodies, a big jacket, a hat and gloves," he said. "It's a lot of clothes man, but it helps and you need it. If you're not prepared for a day like today it can be real bad, it can be dangerous.”
New York did not suffer alone. From Maine all the way to Florida — and deep into the country’s midsection — millions of Americans were shivering.
Even Miami was cold, sort of, matching its previous daily record low of 42 degrees while a freeze warning was in effect across the rest of Florida.
How unbelievably cold was it? How about 4 degrees in Knoxville, Tenn., 7 degrees in Raleigh N.C., and an unbelievable -13 in Lexington Ky.?
More record lows are possible this weekend and a winter storm barrels through the Midwest and Northeast.
Record-breaking cold was not limited to North America. Over in Israel, a rare winter snow storm blanketed the country with an inch of powder.
