I'll chime in again (lol), but maybe it was because it's Christmas and snow on or around this time is something many of us like a lot, and don't see too often. I imagine RedSky longingly looking at past Christmas snows and coming across 1976. Probably something else though, haha.
If 1993-94 was the ice winter, 76-77 was the cold winter. We skated on ponds before Christmas that year. I remember thinking what a waste of cold weather, it had been below freezing most days since Thanksgiving. It finally snowed Christmas night here, about 2 inches or so starting in the late evening. It was cold and the snow was real dry, not heavy, but just floating down. It was a beautiful sight! And yeah January was colder. I think they had an icebreaker come up the Delaware.