As the end of December approaches, New York City braces for a mixed bag of weather patterns throughout its boroughs. All boroughs are showing similar forecasts with minor variations, indicating a slightly warmer and wetter close to the year, especially as we move toward New Year's Day. According to the National Weather Service, today there's a 40 percent chance of snow before 10 a.m. across most boroughs including Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. The primarily cloudy skies will accompany highs teetering near the mid-30s with wind chill values making it feel noticeably cooler.
Leading into tonight, the skies across the boroughs, including the Bronx and Staten Island, are predicted to be partly cloudy with lows around the low 20s. However, as Sunday capitalizes on increased cloud cover, we can expect temperatures to rise to near 41 degrees, with a chance of rain developing into the evening and carrying on through Monday.
Monday forecasts an 80% chance of rain with possible new precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch. This is consistent across most boroughs with Manhattan and Brooklyn expecting highs near 50, while Staten Island could see temperatures as high as 52 degrees. Tuesday's outlook shows mostly cloudy conditions with a high near 33 and brisk winds, followed by a partly cloudy night with temperatures dropping to around 27 degrees.
The latter half of the week projects a brief sunny respite on Wednesday before another potential snow event on New Year's Day, with a 30 percent chance across New York City's boroughs. As temperatures hover around the mid-30s on the first day of the new year, Thursday night's temps drop significantly into the low 20s setting the stage for a sunny, yet chilly Friday with highs just below the freezing mark. While the daily weather appears to be mostly mild, marine forecasts issued for coastal waters surrounding the city predict gale force winds from Monday through Tuesday night, though no spotter activation is expected at this time.
All told, the transition from 2025 to 2026 in New York City will be characterized by a dance of visible breath in cold air, rain that falls but can't decide if it prefers to be snow, and the calm of winter night skies broken by the occasional gust that reminds us of the season's presence. With no hazardous weather expected that meets NWS warning criteria.
