Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
In much of U.S., new year revelers face record cold
Brutally cold weather has iced plans for scores of events in the Northeast from New Year’s Eve through New Year’s Day, but not in New York City, where people will start gathering in Times Square up to nine hours before the famous ball drop.
Some of the tips offered for the crowd of revelers expected in Times Square for what could be one of the coldest New Year’s Eve ball drops on record include dressing in layers, laying off the booze and taking hand warmers.
“Hundreds of thousands have withstood very cold weather over the years for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we expect this year to be no different,” said Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, which puts on the event.
The coldest New Year’s Eve in Times Square on record was in 1917, when it was 1 degree at midnight. This year, the forecast is for 11 degrees with a wind chill around zero, which would tie for second-coldest with 1962.
City and state health officials are advising people to cover all exposed skin, and wear hat, scarves and gloves. Drinking alcohol is discouraged because it causes the body to lose heat faster.
Extra New York Fire Department personnel will be on hand to provide medical support, and a National Weather Service meteorologist will be on-site with the city’s emergency management officials to monitor weather conditions.
In other areas gripped by the cold, some events were canceled or reconsidered. The annual Lobster Dip at Old Orchard Beach in Maine was rescheduled for the first time in 30 years.
Organizers of the Penguin Plunge in Narragansett, R.I., said the event is still on for New Year’s Day but they advise the thousands of expected participants to “use their good judgment” and avoid taking the plunge if they have medical conditions or have been sick.
With temperatures expected to reach only 9 degrees in Springfield, Ill., today, organizers of the annual New Year’s Eve fireworks display decided to cancel this year’s show. Officials said they plan to reschedule it for a warmer date.
Despite the drawn-out deep freeze across Pennsylvania, officials said Saturday that the annual New Year’s Day Mummers Parade will still be held. The event features thousands of performers in colorful costumes adorned with sequins and feathers strutting through Philadelphia’s streets.
The village of Orchard Park near Buffalo, N.Y., canceled its New Year’s Eve event because subzero temperatures are forecast. “With frigid weather, the chance of a waterline break is higher, and I’d rather have my public works crew fixing it than hoisting a ball up to drop,” said Mayor Jo Ann Litwin Clinton.
At Long Lake in the heart of New York state’s Adirondack Park, intrepid souls in swimsuits or funny costumes will jump into frigid water through a hole cut by the Fire Department for the fifth annual Polar Plunge, a fundraiser for High Peaks Hospice. With temperatures expected to top out around 13 degrees, the rescue squad will be checking participants’ blood pressures, and buses will provide warm shelter, said Alexandra Roalsvig, the town’s director of recreation and tourism.
“People get excited about the cold here; we grew up with it,” Roalsvig said. “We’re counting on a good, cold winter and snow because we’re so reliant on snowmobiling for the winter economy.”
The cold front is also affecting Arkansas. Temperatures are forecast to plummet into single digits over the New Year’s weekend, and there’s a chance of freezing drizzle and snow.
The National Weather Service said the cold front would cause wind chills to fall into single digits across northeast Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas by Saturday evening.
Forecasters said light freezing drizzle or snow were possible Saturday and early today throughout west-central Arkansas.
The weather service said the lowest readings will likely be recorded on New Year’s morning, with temperatures ranging from zero in far southeast Oklahoma and west-central Arkansas to minus-15 degrees in northeast Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas.