Most Extreme New Years Eve Ball Drop Weather

Falling confetti, New Year’s most-coveted celebration, and changing weather have all been constants at the Ball Drop in Times Square! Mother Nature has delivered a little bit of everything, including ringing in the New Year with frigid, snowy, and soggy weather since its start more than a century ago.

A typical New Year’s Eve in New York City’s Times Square features a high of 41 degrees and low of 30 degrees, but certain years are more memorable than others! It’s just the way weather is, fits of normal and sometimes gnarly extremes!

A good starting point is December 31, 1917, when brutal cold settled into New York. A single degree at Ball Drop, it stands as the event’s coldest on record! Add in a sustained wind of 10 mph, and it felt like minus-17 degrees outside. Those in attendance would have had to wear multiple layers, gloves, and hats to avoid frostbite, as it would take 20 to 30 minutes or less to occur in this weather.

In stark contrast, 1965 and 1972 were unusually warm when the 150-pound aluminum ball dropped on New Year’s Eve. When the ball finally stopped at the end of the flag-pole at One Times Square both years, it was a balmy 58 degrees. While 1965 was a 63-degree, beautiful day, rain fell in 1972 when Dick Clark began his infamous New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Special.

Snow has been rare as well, happening just seven times since celebrations began in 1907. An organized area of low pressure just south of Cape Cod, Mass., delivered 2 to 3 inches of wet snow to Time Square by Midnight on January 1, 1968. It had been more than a decade since snow fell on December 31, 2009.

In 1975, a similar storm set up happened, this time further south, well east of the southern New Jersey coast. A hair over the freezing mark, a cold, blustery rain fell on those in attendance, making it feel like 11 degrees at Ball Drop!

There are other notable past weather events too! On December 31, 2017, it was 9 degrees with a wind chill of minus-4 degrees. This made it the second coldest day on record behind 1917. The snowiest on record is December 31, 1948, when 4 inches covered Times Square. Meanwhile, the rainiest on record is December 31, 2018, when 1.02 inches soaked those in attendance.