Unseasonably Warm Weather Shatters Decades-Old Records in Tris-State

What to Know

  • Temperatures have been 15 to 20 degrees above normal this week as warm autumn weather grips a swath of the U.S.
  • On Tuesday, Central Park broke a record of 82 degrees set back in 1928 when the thermometer topped off at 83
  • With Halloween and Election Day just weeks away, people were outside swimming, golfing and eating

A southwest wind brought record warmth to much of the tri-state on Monday and Tuesday — weather that is forecast to continue on Wednesday before cooler temperatures arrives later this week, Storm Team 4 said. 

It's less than two weeks until Halloween, but a beach in Rye was packed with people, hungry diners were eating outside in Chelsea and golfers were taking swings at a driving range in the Bronx.

This week, temperatures have been roughly 15 to 20 degrees above normal for this time of year. It's been hotter than normal across the U.S. and meteorologists say dozens of records have or will be broken. 

It was 83 degrees in Central Park on Tuesday, breaking the old record of 82 degrees set back in 1928. Records were also broken in Islip and Bridgeport. Newark Airport saw its 1964 record of 80 degrees melt away as temps clocked in at 84 degrees there on Tuesday afternoon.

British tourists out biking in Manhattan said that they were soaking in the warm, sunny weather before heading back to their overcast home. 

“We’re going to get all of our vitamin D for the winter in one day,” one woman said.

More records are expected to be broken on Wednesday, October 19. It’s forecast to be 84 in Central Park. The old record for that day is 83 degrees, set back in 1963. It’s forecast to be 84 degrees at LaGuardia, where the 1945 record is 80 degrees. Newark, Islip and Bridgeport are also expected to see record-breaking temps, according to Storm Team 4. 

Conditions start cooling on Thursday, when the high in Central Park is expected to be about 68 degrees. That cool down continues through the weekend and into next week, when temps will barely get out of the 50s. It’s forecast to be only 54 degrees in Central Park next Tuesday — a whopping 29-degrees cooler than what it was on Tuesday.

New Yorkers weren’t taking the weather for granted. One man out for an afternoon jog admitted that he was supposed to be at work. He said when he walked outside in the morning and realized how nice it was, “I called in sick.”

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