Welcome to winter 2015.
The first snow of the season started falling around 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, with accumulation of up to an inch expected as temperatures hovered around 20 degrees.
Far more distressing than the snow — especially for those still suffering from PTSD from 2014, aka The Year of the Polar Vortex — is the onset of the cold temperatures.
The mercury will drop to dangerously cold temperatures Wednesday, with the forecast calling for a high of 28 degrees, plunging to as low as nine degrees at night, with a wind chill between zero and -15 degrees.
The frigid weather had the city warning residents to take caution and dress warmly, especially the elderly, the homeless and people with medical issues.
“The city will deploy all tools at its disposal to reach our most vulnerable populations … but we ask our fellow New Yorkers to help,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “If you see someone who looks like they may be at increased risk, report it immediately.”
The temperatures will stay low until Thursday. On Friday, the temperatures could get toward 30, but that is still around 8 degrees below normal.
But don’t start battening down the hatches with Netflix yet. The cold snap is a “natural cycle that we get in January,” according to National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Morrin, and it’s no indication that it will last through the winter.
We’ll just have to wait for Staten Island Chuck’s forecast … Oh, never mind.
