Here’s what today’s snow squall looked like around New York City

New York may not be experiencing a polar vortex to the level of, say, Chicago—where the high temperature is an absolutely frigid minus 10—but the cold front that’s been making its way across the U.S. has officially arrived in the city. Temperatures have been dropping all day, but the real harbinger of the incoming arctic blast was a “snow squall,” which hit New York City in a brief, freezing blast this afternoon.

If you’d never heard of a “snow squall” before today, you’re not alone: The weather event isn’t something that we experience too often. Snow squalls—which are “often associated with strong cold fronts,” per the National Weather Service—move fast and don’t bring a ton of snow, but they are plenty dramatic, as photos taken around the city this afternoon show.

We’re not out of the woods just yet as far as this weather goes: The high temperature tomorrow is 20 degrees, and it’ll close to or below freezing until Saturday.

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images