When my brother, Don called me to let me know the temperature in NYC had dropped to –1º F, I had just left church with plans to take a few local photographs. Prior to mass, I had documented a pair of blooming dandelions and several crocuses in the –3º F cold in my neighborhood.

Knowing that the temperature had fallen below zero F only a handful of times in NYC during my life (this was only the 7th time to be exact) and it hadn’t done so for a record drought of 22+ years, I decided to race to the City to document this meteorologically significant event.

In fact since 1950 the temperature in NYC has fallen below zero F only nine times:

-2: February 2, 1961
-2: February 8, 1963
-1: January 9, 1968
-1: January 23, 1976
-2: January 17, 1977
-1: December 25, 1980
-2: January 21, 1985
-2: January 19, 1994
-1: February 14, 2016

Add on top of it that the –1º F reading was 3.5 standard deviations below the normal February 14th low representing a 0.02% probability, it was even more impressive! Prior to that, the previous NYC February 14th record low had been 2º F set exactly a century earlier in 1916.

Sure prior to 1950 when record keeping began in 1869 the temperature fell below zero F 46 times. But then NYC was a completely different environment. It wasn’t the expansive concrete jungle it is today. Instead it resembled a rural town when radiational cooling was greater and more frequent. Often today, an arc of clouds forms over the city to trap warmth and prevent radiational cooling because of heat absorbed by the expanse amount of concrete, the significant amount of steam generated from heated infrastructure, and to a lesser degree, even motor vehicle emissions.

Knowing that downtown Manhattan is about 25 miles from where I live I turned towards the highway. I could’ve cursed under my breath when I noticed that yet I again my wife had left the tank on empty. I would have to waste precious minutes getting gas and every moment the sun was up the temperature was in danger of rising.

However, at this time, my feelings were already subdued as the preciousness and fleeting nature of life was impressed upon me from my morning’s tragic encounter. When I arrived to church for the 7:30 AM mass, the main parking lot was closed and the police were standing around waiting for the medical examiner. Only four feet from the door that I always use, a body that appeared frozen and stiff was lying on the ground covered in opaque plastic. To me, it was apparent this person had frozen to death; his shoes were lying just above his head indicating in the confusion of hypothermia, he had begun to disrobe.

Later I learned the details. He was an 86 year-old man who helped with collecting and counting the church offering. Ironically he had been planning to attend the 10:30 AM mass that morning that was being celebrated to honor his wife who had predeceased him and Valentine’s Day was his wedding anniversary. Tragically he must have been confused, arrived when it was still dark and the doors were still locked. For some reason he stood in the frigid cold waiting for the church to open instead of taking shelter in his parked SUV that could have offered him much needed warmth. With that said, one could say the only solace in this tragedy is that he joined his wife on their special day, a powerful testament that not even death can destroy the bonds of love.

In any event, I quickly got gas since my wife left the tank on empty (I can’t say how many times I find the tank on empty! Gotta love her for that!) and then sped down the deserted highways. During this time I prayed I could record this moment since the sun had already risen. When I arrived to downtown Manhattan in about 35 minutes the temperature gauge read 1º F. However, before my heart could sink, the mercury fell to 0º F.

Since it was a holiday and a Sunday, the streets were virtually empty such that I could park alongside the curb without being harassed by the police. Knowing that temperatures are rarely static – they constantly rise and fall in small increments, I waited to see if it would fall below zero F again. During this time I photographed the surreal scene of steam fog rising from a nearby building’s water fountains. I knew steam fog often rises when the air is very cold and liquid water in large bodies such as lakes and ponds is still warm. However, I never expected to see this phenomenon in an urban setting from such shallow water. Perhaps, had the cold air not come in so fast after a mild start to the month, an impressive 7.1º F above normal, the water likely would have been frozen and this phenomenon would not have occurred.

At the same time, clean, white steam billowed from a multitude of rooftop chimneys atop the steel, glass skyscrapers, from street-level smoke stacks, and numerous manhole covers. Wisps of white steam also rose from sidewalk subway gratings.

Anyhow, before I knew it, the temperature again read 1º F. While it appeared disheartening, it soon fell to 0º F. As it was in flux, I continued to wait. After taking a few more photographs, I returned to my car to warm myself and as I was about to turn on the engine I saw what I had come and prayed for from my side view mirror; the temperature gauge read –1º F. I immediately jumped out of the car and took a series of photographs not knowing how long the temperature would hold at this level before rising again.

Then, having gotten my cornerstone photo for my planned NYC Valentine’s Day collage, I went to Rockefeller Center to take pictures of the ice skaters and its signature bronze-gilded Prometheus statue. Even though the rink would normally be packed with 100+ skaters, because of the frigid temperature, there were only six brave persons on the ice. At the same time, because of the extreme cold and unfrozen water, steam fog rose from the fountains around Prometheus.

When I had completed taking this series of photos, the sun had risen high enough that the tall buildings could no longer obstruct its warmth. The temperature again read 0º F on its way to high of 15º F.

Afterwards, I looked for something representative of Valentine’s Day to include. Initially I planned to take pictures of a few window displays, but as I drove up 6th Avenue/Avenue of the Americas towards Central Park I came across the City’s iconic “Love” sculpture. Again I parked without concern about getting a ticket and took several pictures.

I then went briefly to Central Park before buying a Valentine’s Day cake and flowers for my wife who was still in bed. Even though she did not want anything, I was not going to listen to her since after all she is the love of my life and Valentine’s Day is the ultimate celebration and expression of our love that really should be a 365/366-day a year event.

After converting my photographs to selective color for my Ipernity collage and supplying photos for my brother’s website The Digital Snow Museum, which has the largest collection of snowstorm photos, I enjoyed the next half or remainder of the day with my wife and family in the warmth of our apartment.