Event Summary

An arctic cold front swept across the region during Sunday afternoon, January 16th. Strong and gusty northwest winds combined with well below normal temperatures and produced extremely low wind chill values mainly from midnight to 10 am on January 17th and from 1 am to noon on January 18th. On January 17th, wind speeds from 15 to 20 mph combined with temperatures from 5 to 10 degrees above 0, produced wind chill values from 15 to around 20 degrees below 0 in New York City and from 20 to 30 degrees below 0 across the Lower Hudson Valley. On January 18th, wind speeds averaging 15 mph combined with temperatures from 0 to 5 above zero, produced wind chill values from 20 degrees below 0 at Central Park to 30 degrees below 0 at LaGuardia Airport. Wind chills across the Lower Hudson Valley were 30 to 35 degrees below 0. All 3 people in New York City died from exposure to extremely low wind chill values and extremely cold temperatures, as follows: A homeless man from Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn was found dead outdoors, a homeless man from Queens was found dead in a car, a woman was found dead on the roof of a hospital