Chilled New York City

What’s Happening

Okay so Ice in the Hudson River hugged the shore of Manhattan amid a deep freeze.

Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory Chilled New York City Earth Earth Observatory Image of the Day EO Explorer Topics All Topics Atmosphere Land Heat & Radiation Life on Earth Human Dimensions Natural Events Oceans Remote Sensing Technology Snow & Ice Water More Content Collections Global Maps World of Change Articles Notes from the Field Blog Earth Matters Blog Blue Marble: Next Generation EO Kids Mission: Biomes About About Us 🛜 RSS Contact Us Search 3 min read Chilled New York City Image of the Day for Ice in the Hudson River hugged the shore of Manhattan amid a deep freeze. NASA Earth Observatory Feb 04, 2026 Article View more Images of the Day: Feb 3, 2026 Instruments: Landsat 8 — OLI Topics: Extreme Weather Sea & Lake Ice Snow The New York metropolitan area was showing the effects of a prolonged cold spell in late January 2026. (we’re not making this up)

During a stretch of frigid weather, ice choked the Hudson River along Manhattan’s western shore.

The Details

The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 captured this image of the wintry landscape around midday on January 28. The image is false-color ( bands 5-4-3 ) to distinguish ice (light blue) from open water and snow.

Ice is abundant in the Hudson River and visible in smaller amounts in the East River, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park, and waterways in New Jersey. Temperatures in New York City dropped below freezing on January 24 and stayed there for over a week.

Why This Matters

The high on January 28, the date of the image, was 23 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 5 degrees Celsius). Low temperatures and harsh wind chills gripped much of eastern North America over this period amid a surge of Arctic air . Much of the ice in the image likely floated there from farther upriver, where tidal currents are weaker and salinity is lower.

Scientists and researchers are watching this development closely.

The Bottom Line

Much of the ice in the image likely floated there from farther upriver, where tidal currents are weaker and salinity is lower. These conditions allow water to freeze sooner and at higher temperatures than the faster-flowing, brackish water near the river’s mouth, shown here.

Sound off in the comments.