Viral

A Snow Squall Blew Through New York City, And The Videos Are Incredible

New York City is far from the eye of the Polar Vortex that’s turned one-quarter of the nation into danger zones. It’s not even that cold — or at least not comparable to cities like Chicago and Minneapolis, which have become colder than Antarctica. But the country’s most populous metropolis received a brief, relatively mild taste of what other places are going through, which prompted some on social media to add to the already towering piles of Polar Vortex videos and images.

Around 3:20 p.m., the city was hit with what the internet was quick to dub the “snow squall” — a short but extreme case of whiteout conditions that was over as quickly as it started. In the span of about 30 minutes, the five boroughs, which had clear and sunny conditions earlier in the day, suddenly gained one or two inches snow before everything returned back to normal.

Of course, the incident was thoroughly documented, both by the news and social media-ites. About an hour after it was over, the local ABC affiliate already went live with a couple time-lapse videos.

Other local journalists and city government accounts got in on the action, too.

The main branch of the New York Public Library got someone out there to get good video of its iconic lions beholding the majesty.

But the majority of coverage — both of NYC’s snow squall as well as snow squalls from elsewhere — have come from everyday people.

https://twitter.com/colleensor/status/1090714774621564930

https://twitter.com/MarcMarkley/status/1090712953148657664

Some made jokes.

https://twitter.com/coolghost101/status/1090725964164681730

Some captured the aftermath, when the only trace of the snow squall was the snow.

Of course, no weather coverage in 2019 would be complete without people reminding us that sudden blizzards are almost certainly not a good thing in the long run.

https://twitter.com/TheThingAboutX/status/1090711336185708552

Or that this sudden violent event left some destruction in its wake.

Again, New Yorkers were a lot luckier than many others, especially in the Mid-West. Here’s hoping for the best for those who are in the eye of the Polar Vortex.