Extreme Cold and Cold in New York, January 23 to 24, 2011

Name: Extreme Cold and Cold in New York, January 23 to 24, 2011
Start: 2011-01-23T18:00
End: 2011-01-24T09:00
Location: New York

January 23 to 24, 2011 · NWS ALY · 27 events in 27 counties and zones

Bitterly cold air settled into the region as Canadian high pressure built in. Temperatures plummeted to 5 to 30 degrees below zero across east central New York.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 27 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 27

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS ALY wrote it up.

Bitterly cold air settled into the region as Canadian high pressure built in. Temperatures plummeted to 5 to 30 degrees below zero across east central New York. Brisk westerly winds diminished during the evening, becoming light and variable to calm after midnight. The winds resulted in wind chill readings of 10 to 40 degrees below zero.

Numerous schools were closed or had delayed starts across east central New York due to the extreme cold.

Amtrak temporarily suspended service between Albany and New York City because the extreme cold caused some signals, switches and equipment to freeze.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 23, 5:56 PM EST, 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 23, 5:56 PM EST, 4 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 23, 4:34 PM EST, 1 hour 26 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

19 cold/wind chill, 8 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Cold/Wind Chill, Southern Fulton

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Fulton forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.114, -74.422 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Montgomery

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 42.902, -74.440 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Southern Saratoga

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Saratoga forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.107, -73.864 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Western Schenectady

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Western Schenectady forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.818, -74.059 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Eastern Schenectady

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Schenectady forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.818, -74.059 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Washington

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Washington forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.314, -73.431 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Southern Washington

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Washington forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.314, -73.431 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Schoharie

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Schoharie forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.588, -74.442 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Western Albany

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Western Albany forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.600, -73.974 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Eastern Albany

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Albany forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.600, -73.974 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Western Rensselaer

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Western Rensselaer forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.711, -73.510 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Eastern Rensselaer

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Rensselaer forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.711, -73.510 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Eastern Greene

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Greene forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.277, -74.123 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Western Dutchess

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Western Dutchess forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 41.765, -73.743 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Eastern Dutchess

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Dutchess forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 41.765, -73.743 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Eastern Ulster

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Ulster forecast zone
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 41.888, -74.259 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Western Columbia

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Western Columbia forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.250, -73.632 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Eastern Columbia

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Columbia forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.250, -73.632 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Southern Herkimer

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Herkimer forecast zone
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 43.420, -74.962 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Herkimer

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Herkimer forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.420, -74.962 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Hamilton

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Hamilton forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.661, -74.497 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Saratoga

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Saratoga forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.107, -73.864 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Warren

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Warren forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.561, -73.846 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Southeast Warren

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Southeast Warren forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.561, -73.846 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Fulton

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Fulton forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.114, -74.422 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Western Ulster

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Western Ulster forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 41.888, -74.259 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Western Greene

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Western Greene forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.277, -74.123 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill: Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New York in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in New York, January 2011

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 277434, 277435, 277441, 277442, 277443, 277449, 277450, 277452, 277453, 277454, 277456, 277457, 277459, 277460, 277461, 277463, 277468, 277469, 279484, 279486, 279488, 279489, 279490, 279491, 279492, 279493, 279494.