Hot in the City : Living in the (sub) Tropics?!?!?

Hot in the City : Chelo Alonso Cuban Dancer

New York City — formerly a humid continental climate — is now within the humid subtropical climate zone. The city has met the National Climate Assessment’s requirements to classify as humid subtropical for the past five years.

What do those requirements entail?

• Temperatures have averaged above 72 degrees in the summer
• Higher than 27 degrees in the winter.
  During the first three months of this year, the average temperature in Central Park was over 42 degrees Fahrenheit, the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Regional Climate Center.

Newer climate maps place NYC inside of the subtropical zone and instead of the humid continental warm summer climate zones similar to Pittsburgh and Chicago.  This makes sense when you look at vegetation and plant hardiness zone maps. NYC’s native birch and sugar maple trees are NOT flourishing in the heat while plants and trees that have historically thrived in Southeast Asia and South America are loving the weather.

The main culprit is assumed to be climate change. Climate zones around the world are shifting at an alarming rate. dievca expects her steaming concrete jungle to continue to get warmer. Per one study’s estimation, by 2050, the city could be as hot as Alabama. But who knows what will happen after COVID-19.

Time to treat NYC like a seasonal beach resort!

LES Hotel Indigo: Mr. Purple rooftop pool and bar.

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