Brr-other, it’s cold outside!
But frostbitten New Yorkers can forget about the sixth layer today — forecasters predict the temperature will be around 26 degrees, relatively balmy compared to yesterday’s arctic chill, which felt like minus 26 with the wind chill.
“The winds will die down. That’ll make a big difference,” said Peter Wichrowski of the National Weather Service, which is predicting temperatures in the mid 20s all day and around 20 overnight.
That’s a lot warmer than yesterday, when the temperature in the morning dipped to 8 degrees in Central Park and hovered in the teens all day.
The coldest snap of the 2000s will break Thursday, when temperatures will go back up to the 30s, and Mother Nature will dust the city with a light snowfall, Wichrowski said. “It’s still rather cold, but not as cold. It’s some relief.”
And any kind of relief was welcome to Brooklyn lawyer Sam Wensworth, 42, who was trying to warm up in Grand Central Station.
“Getting dressed this morning was like baking a cake,” he said. “I’ve got three or four layers on. I’ve got two sweaters, two pairs of socks, long underwear and a turtleneck.”
Josh Weinstein, 28, an electrician from the Upper East Side, chattered, I don’t ever remember it being this cold. It’s weird, but it’s so cold my hands are burning.”
The intemperate temperatures had inspectors at the city’s Housing Preservation and Development office working overtime. Between midnight and 4 p.m., the department fielded 2,466 heat and hot-water complaints, about three times higher than normal for this time of year, said Commissioner Richard Roberts.
In response, the agency had 30 inspectors out on the street, three times more than normal for a holiday.
Maria Gonzalez, 29, a bank teller from Harlem, tried to put the deep freeze in perspective.
“Just think positive,” she said. “Before you know it, it’ll be 100 degrees and we’ll be complaining it’s too hot.”