Post by KNOWTHIS on Jan 7, 2007 17:49:14 GMT -5
wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_005210450.html
All Time High: 70 Degree Temps Blanket NYC
Thousands Flock To Central Park To Enjoy The 28th Straight Day Of Above Normal Temperatures
All Time High: 70 Degree Temps Blanket NYC
Thousands Flock To Central Park To Enjoy The 28th Straight Day Of Above Normal Temperatures
Don't be alarmed, New Yorkers, your thermometers aren't broken. It's 70 degrees. In January.
After the rain tapered off in the morning, the warm air was accompanied by partly cloudy skies and by noon, thousands of people had filled Central Park from top to bottom. At Central Park South, a group of break dancers had a throng of onlookers surround them while they strutted their stuff on the sidewalk.
Just a half a mile north, a band of cellists in short sleeves were positioned by a fence, providing a soundtrack to the unlikely January 6 scene.
At the Park's reservoir, the line to rent a boat stretched all the way to the entrance of its accompanying restaurant, the Central Park Boathouse.
Whether it was jogging, biking, rollerblading, throwing around a frisbee, or simple sitting on a bench and soaking in what's expected to be the end of the incredibly warm surge, thousands of people flocked to the Park to make the most of the absolutely gorgeous day.
The National Weather Service reported the temperature in Central Park at 12:51 p.m. was 70 degrees, shattering the previous record of 63 degrees set back in 1950. Temperatures appeared to peak at about 71 degrees, and stayed consistent at 70 until about 4 p.m. when it began to dip back into the upper 60s. By 4:30 it was still 68 degrees out in Central Park.
"The stretch of unseasonably warm weather is unprecedented and will be above normal for almost 30 days in a row now. Our normal is 38," CBS 2 Meteorologist John Bolaris said.
But it hasn't been fun for everyone, especially ski resorts and lodges who count on the cold to bring them customers during winter. On Plattekill Mountain, located about 2.5 hours north of New York City in Roxbury, ski trails remained closed on Saturday and officials hoped to reopen them on Sunday, though that still remained unlikely. The mountain's website urges ski-goers to "think snow!"
Robert Konefal owns the Pine Mill Arms Hotel in the Catskills and vented his frustrations about a winter unlike any other he's ever seen.
"I've been here for 32 years and this is the worst winter I've ever seen," he told WCBSTV.com. "I had three-day packages for New Year's Eve and in my main building every single room canceled."
Konefal estimates a 65 percent decrease in customers this season up to this point, and believes that number will jump even higher come the weekend of Martin Luther King's birthday -- one of their three busiest weekends of the year.
"I'm always booked, I was booked, it's the first time I've ever had anyone in the main building cancel and these people booked in October. It's really frustrating because I just put a new website up which cost me about $2,000. I just repackaged everything over from last year, changed all my packages around and I was really excited for the winter," he said. "I brought two student employees in from Chile and the only thing I've got for them to do is clean out the cellar."
Bolaris says the warm weather will also take its toll on those who have bad allergies. "I think it may be harsh for allergy sufferers believe it or not because the mold spores haven't been killed off and microcosms are still breeding, so it could mean a harsh allergy season come this spring."
The main force behind the record warmth is mostly related to El Nino, a weather phenomenon that occurs every several years and usually creates milder winter for the northeast. El Nino occurs when waters off the Peruvian coast continue to warm late in the year.
The phenomenon was first mentioned over 110 years ago by Peruvian fishermen who were perplexed by the strange weather, but even more baffled by a surplus of dead fish in the water. It was actually the warming of the water that killed the fish, and when the ocean warms like that, it has a global effect. "Normally, the stronger the El Nino, the more mild winter and less in the way of snow for the northern tier, northeast and mid-Atlantic. However in an El Nino year you can still have a superstorm either with snow or rain," Bolaris says.
El Nino, Spanish for "the child," was said to have received its name from the Peruvian fishermen because it occurs around Christmas time. The phenomenon typically lasts for several weeks, but can continue for months at a time. When that happens, the fishing industry can suffer serious damage, similar to what the fishermen experienced many moons ago.
And though many believe global warming is the cause of the craziness, Bolaris downplays that idea, but says it does play a part.
"Global warming is a concern, but i wouldn't attribute this particular episode to purely global warming. The major part is El Nino, but it doesn't not rule out that it could be the end effect of global warming," he says.
Forecasters expect temperatures to fall back to earth sometime next week, with the chance for the first snowflakes of the season to fall via a flurry on Tuesday, but even that remains an uncertainty at this point. Still, Bolaris believes the strange pattern won't last, and New Yorkers will still have plenty of cold and at least some snow to look forward to.
"This is exciting because it's unique and different and you try to figure it out. Most people are looking at it like it's either scary because it means global warming, or it's warm weather and they're not complaining because they're into it," Bolaris says. "Weather is cyclical and it will go back the other way. This is not the end of our winter -- there will be plenty of winter to come."
But for ski lodges, when it does come it may be too late. Konefal doesn't believe he'll be able to salvage the large amount of money he's already lost this winter.
"Once you lose Christmas week or Martin Luther King week, it's gone. We could be filled on Washington's birthday week, they're the three big ones, but you can't really make it up at this point," Konefal says. "Ski centers have been doing everything they possibly can and they just can't do it. You just gotta suck it up."
In the meantime, Central Park will be the real hot spot in New York, with people enjoying what should be the warmest and last bit of El Nino -- for at least the week -- before temperatures drop by the beginning of next week.
"Sometime in February and March when you're shoveling snow in your driveway, this will all be a distant, warm memory," Bolaris says.
After the rain tapered off in the morning, the warm air was accompanied by partly cloudy skies and by noon, thousands of people had filled Central Park from top to bottom. At Central Park South, a group of break dancers had a throng of onlookers surround them while they strutted their stuff on the sidewalk.
Just a half a mile north, a band of cellists in short sleeves were positioned by a fence, providing a soundtrack to the unlikely January 6 scene.
At the Park's reservoir, the line to rent a boat stretched all the way to the entrance of its accompanying restaurant, the Central Park Boathouse.
Whether it was jogging, biking, rollerblading, throwing around a frisbee, or simple sitting on a bench and soaking in what's expected to be the end of the incredibly warm surge, thousands of people flocked to the Park to make the most of the absolutely gorgeous day.
The National Weather Service reported the temperature in Central Park at 12:51 p.m. was 70 degrees, shattering the previous record of 63 degrees set back in 1950. Temperatures appeared to peak at about 71 degrees, and stayed consistent at 70 until about 4 p.m. when it began to dip back into the upper 60s. By 4:30 it was still 68 degrees out in Central Park.
"The stretch of unseasonably warm weather is unprecedented and will be above normal for almost 30 days in a row now. Our normal is 38," CBS 2 Meteorologist John Bolaris said.
But it hasn't been fun for everyone, especially ski resorts and lodges who count on the cold to bring them customers during winter. On Plattekill Mountain, located about 2.5 hours north of New York City in Roxbury, ski trails remained closed on Saturday and officials hoped to reopen them on Sunday, though that still remained unlikely. The mountain's website urges ski-goers to "think snow!"
Robert Konefal owns the Pine Mill Arms Hotel in the Catskills and vented his frustrations about a winter unlike any other he's ever seen.
"I've been here for 32 years and this is the worst winter I've ever seen," he told WCBSTV.com. "I had three-day packages for New Year's Eve and in my main building every single room canceled."
Konefal estimates a 65 percent decrease in customers this season up to this point, and believes that number will jump even higher come the weekend of Martin Luther King's birthday -- one of their three busiest weekends of the year.
"I'm always booked, I was booked, it's the first time I've ever had anyone in the main building cancel and these people booked in October. It's really frustrating because I just put a new website up which cost me about $2,000. I just repackaged everything over from last year, changed all my packages around and I was really excited for the winter," he said. "I brought two student employees in from Chile and the only thing I've got for them to do is clean out the cellar."
Bolaris says the warm weather will also take its toll on those who have bad allergies. "I think it may be harsh for allergy sufferers believe it or not because the mold spores haven't been killed off and microcosms are still breeding, so it could mean a harsh allergy season come this spring."
The main force behind the record warmth is mostly related to El Nino, a weather phenomenon that occurs every several years and usually creates milder winter for the northeast. El Nino occurs when waters off the Peruvian coast continue to warm late in the year.
The phenomenon was first mentioned over 110 years ago by Peruvian fishermen who were perplexed by the strange weather, but even more baffled by a surplus of dead fish in the water. It was actually the warming of the water that killed the fish, and when the ocean warms like that, it has a global effect. "Normally, the stronger the El Nino, the more mild winter and less in the way of snow for the northern tier, northeast and mid-Atlantic. However in an El Nino year you can still have a superstorm either with snow or rain," Bolaris says.
El Nino, Spanish for "the child," was said to have received its name from the Peruvian fishermen because it occurs around Christmas time. The phenomenon typically lasts for several weeks, but can continue for months at a time. When that happens, the fishing industry can suffer serious damage, similar to what the fishermen experienced many moons ago.
And though many believe global warming is the cause of the craziness, Bolaris downplays that idea, but says it does play a part.
"Global warming is a concern, but i wouldn't attribute this particular episode to purely global warming. The major part is El Nino, but it doesn't not rule out that it could be the end effect of global warming," he says.
Forecasters expect temperatures to fall back to earth sometime next week, with the chance for the first snowflakes of the season to fall via a flurry on Tuesday, but even that remains an uncertainty at this point. Still, Bolaris believes the strange pattern won't last, and New Yorkers will still have plenty of cold and at least some snow to look forward to.
"This is exciting because it's unique and different and you try to figure it out. Most people are looking at it like it's either scary because it means global warming, or it's warm weather and they're not complaining because they're into it," Bolaris says. "Weather is cyclical and it will go back the other way. This is not the end of our winter -- there will be plenty of winter to come."
But for ski lodges, when it does come it may be too late. Konefal doesn't believe he'll be able to salvage the large amount of money he's already lost this winter.
"Once you lose Christmas week or Martin Luther King week, it's gone. We could be filled on Washington's birthday week, they're the three big ones, but you can't really make it up at this point," Konefal says. "Ski centers have been doing everything they possibly can and they just can't do it. You just gotta suck it up."
In the meantime, Central Park will be the real hot spot in New York, with people enjoying what should be the warmest and last bit of El Nino -- for at least the week -- before temperatures drop by the beginning of next week.
"Sometime in February and March when you're shoveling snow in your driveway, this will all be a distant, warm memory," Bolaris says.
