Cold/Wind Chill — Western Columbia, New York

2026-01-31 · Western Columbia, New York

Event narrative

Minimum wind chill of -14 degrees Fahrenheit recorded.

Wider weather episode

A persistent polar airmass created a prolonged period of frigid conditions across eastern New York for the final days of January into the very beginning of February. Bitter cold air temperatures combined with periods of gusty winds and fresh, deep snowpack made for several days worth of dangerously cold conditions.

The cold outbreak began early on January 29th where the most dangerously cold minimum wind chill values, or feels-like temperatures, were noted across the higher terrain areas of the Southern Adirondacks, Eastern Catskills, Mohawk Valley, and Taconics. However, by the following night, widespread dangerously cold temperatures overtook the region with minimum air temperatures ranging from -22 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit and minimum feels-like temperatures spanning -36 to -2 degrees Fahrenheit. A brief respite came on January 30th when extensive cloud cover maintained sufficient insulation to limit temperature falls, but by the next night, February 1, minimum feels-like temperatures once again fell to -34 to -5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1313791. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.