Times Square Revelers Ring in a Soggy New Year After Thunderstorm

New Yorkers are used to ringing in the New Year in the cold or even the snow. But in rain, thunder and lightning? Not so much.

Heavy rain fell in New York City on Tuesday night and lightning lit up the sky, a rarity in January. But many revelers were undeterred. They showed up in Times Square in Manhattan to watch the annual ball-drop wearing ponchos. (Umbrellas were not allowed.)

Rain was forecast to fall in the New York City metro area from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., with moderate to occasionally heavy rain falling for a two to four hour period in that window, the National Weather Service’s New York office said. Thunder was predicted for the same area from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., the office said.

By about 11:30 p.m., the worst of the weather appeared to have passed over Manhattan, according to the Weather Service’s radar.

On social media, some users said they had abandoned their plans in the face of the heavy rain. Others described the weather as unsettling or interpreted it as an ominous sign for the year ahead.

The Prospect Park drone light show in Brooklyn was canceled. And people hoping to get a running start to 2025 were disappointed: The New York Road Runners canceled their midnight run in Central Park citing continuous lightning strikes.