Record-setting cold shocks New York City

The Big Apple felt more like the North Pole early Saturday, with major airports reporting record low temperatures, Central Park hovering in single digits and Bryant Park’s iconic water fountain looking more like a massive icicle.

John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens reached a frigid record low for the date of 4 degrees, breaking the old mark set in 1996, Fox Weather Meteorologist Christopher Tate said Saturday. Newark Airport and LaGuardia Airport in Queens both logged lows of 5 degrees, also breaking previous lows recorded in 1996 of 7 degrees and 10 degrees, respectively.

In Central Park, the thermometer likewise dropped to 4 degrees at 7 a.m., nearing but not reaching the record low for the same date of 0 degrees in 1918, according to Tate.

But with the wind chill, the outside air felt like it was minus 15 degrees at 6 am.

“This arctic blast certainly means business,” said Tate. “We’re certainly off to a very chilly start to the weekend here in the city.”

In Times Square, a Minnie Mouse performer was spotted freezing her tail off — sitting shivering alone on a folded chair as her black gloves tucked under her folded arms appeared to offer little relief.

The record-breaking temperature had many New Yorkers staying inside – and some who braved the outdoors questioning their sanity.

Dave Coleman, 70, who got a first-hand look at the frozen fountain at Bryant Park while visiting there with his wife and grandson, said he was caught off guard by the freezing weather.

“I’m very surprised,” Coleman said. “We planned on going ice skating and figured it [would be] nice and in the 40s and bought tickets, so we had to come out in the cold. But it’s New York, and you never know what’s going to happen.”

However, Cameron Brunet, 21, of Montreal suggested New Yorkers are soft.

“This is nothing,” Brunet said. “I’m really happy to be here. It’s minus 42 in Montreal, so I’m really happy to be here.”

The cold was short-lived, as temperatures rose to 24 degrees by late afternoon and were expected to continue climbing. Forecasts called for the thermometer to reach 30 degrees sometime after midnight, and temps could go as high as 50 degrees on Sunday.

The bone-chilling interlude came just a week after record-high monthly temperatures were recorded in Central Park.

As cold as it was in the Big Apple, at least New Yorkers were nowhere New Hampshire’s Mount Washingtonaccording to the Mount Washington observatory. 

The jaw-dropping reading broke the previous record for the coldest wind chill ever recorded in the US, which was minus 105 degrees and set Feb. 16, 2014 in Howard Pass, Alaska, said Tate.

Known for having some of the world’s worst weather, Mount Washington saw air temperatures plummet to minus 47 degrees on Saturday morning, tying a previous low set in January 1934.

Additional reporting by Joaquin Contreras