The Coldest Day of the Year
The choice to avoid depriving others of life, liberty, and property without due process of law, even though our government is not enforcing our Constitution, means choosing to pollute and deplete less, which means being more connected to nature and its rhythms.
Winter is colder and darker than the rest of the year. The earth’s tilt makes it straightforward to know the darkest day of the year: the solstice, December 21.
The coldest day of the year comes later. I found a couple reports that it’s around now.
The map on this page from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Interactive map: Coldest day of the year across the United States, shows that for Central Park, the coldest day of the year was yesterday, January 24, when the low averages 27F (-3 C) based on NOAA data from 1991 to 2020.
This page, New York City Average Weather by Day, cites the same data but states, “On average, January 30 is the coldest day of the year New York City. From 1991–2020, the average high temperature on January 30 was 39.5 °F, and the average low was 26.7 °F.”
Whether January 24, 30, or between, it’s around now. The temperature this morning was 12F (-11C) with a snowstorm.
I benefit from five of my apartment’s six sides bordering other apartments, but my window faces outdoors. I dress warm to keep warm and don’t turn on my heat. I can’t if I want to since I don’t have an account with the power company.
My neighbors benefit since the building has central heating that I pay for even though I don’t use it, as I described in People blame me for leeching my neighbors’ heat. They have it backward. Briefly, since I’m motivated to seal my windows instead of just turning up the heat, my apartment loses less heat to the outdoors, so I save them money.
We all have the windows originally installed with the building. They aren’t sealed well, as I described and pictured in My neighbors leave their windows wide open in temperatures below freezing, presumably blasting their heaters.
Read my weekly newsletter
On initiative, leadership, the environment, and burpees