http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a.husMVnwfaMNew York City may flirt with record warmth tomorrow as temperatures remain about 20 degrees above normal until late this week, the National Weather Service said.
Temperatures tomorrow are expected to reach 78 degrees Fahrenheit (25.5 Celsius), 1 degree shy of the 1947 record for the date, said Matt Scalora, a weather service meteorologist in Upton, New York.
While the temperature will rise into the 80s the day after tomorrow, the Central Park record for the date of 89, set in 1929, isn’t likely to fall, Scalora said.
“Tomorrow there is a chance we could tie or beat a record there,” Scalora said by telephone. “I wouldn’t bank on a record for Wednesday.”
Readings across the eastern half of the U.S. have ranged about 20 degrees above normal since the end of last week, and that warmth is expected to continue through this week, according to forecasters. New York is likely to have a high of 75 degrees today, 5 degrees short of the 1928 record.
A record high temperature for the day of 77 was set in Boston yesterday, while Providence, Rhode Island, had 76, breaking marks set in 1950, according to the weather service. The temperature reached 82 degrees in Concord, New Hampshire, two days ago breaking a 1981 record for the day.
Scalora said a cold front will send high temperatures plummeting in New York by almost 20 degrees later this week, putting them closer to normal for this time of year. The average high temperature for today at Central Park is 57, according to the weather service.
The cold front will also bring a chance of rain and the season’s first opportunity for thunderstorms, Scalora said.
The warm weather comes on the heels of the wettest March on record at Central Park and flooding in Massachusetts and Rhode Island that drove hundreds from their homes, cut Amtrak service to Boston and swelled rivers across the region.
Central Park received 10.68 inches of rain in March, breaking the record of 10.54 inches set in 1983, according to the weather service.