New York City recorded its hottest day in more than a decade on Tuesday, with temperatures in Central Park hitting 99 degrees for the first time since 2012. According to the New York Times, the thermometer at Belvedere Castle—the park’s official weather station—reached the mark just before 1:30 p.m., marking the hottest temperature reading since July 18, 2012. The last time Central Park came close was June 30, 2021, when it hit 98 degrees.
Bryan Ramsey, a meteorologist at the New York office of the National Weather Service, said that at one point on Tuesday, it seemed possible Central Park could hit 102 degrees. By the afternoon, the park had already surpassed 97 degrees—a record for that date that had stood since 1888, Ramsey said. The hottest temperature ever recorded in the park was 106 degrees on July 9, 1936.
The city’s close proximity to the coast usually brings in enough humidity to limit the most extreme temperatures. But according to Ramsey, Tuesday’s air was drier because it was drifting in from the west, off the continent rather than the ocean. As a result, temperatures west and north of the city were even higher, according to the Times.
Record-breaking temperatures were also recorded at the city’s airports. Newark Liberty International Airport hit 103 degrees, surpassing the previous daily record of 97 set in 1966 and tying the June record set in 2021. LaGuardia Airport reached 100 degrees, breaking the daily record of 96 set in 2013, but still short of the June record of 101 set in 1952.
At John F. Kennedy International Airport, the temperature climbed to 102 degrees, breaking both the daily record of 97 set in 2010 and the June record of 99 set in 1949.
Luckily, NYC’s heat wave is set to subside Wednesday night, with temperatures projected to slink back down into the 70s on Thursday.
Across the Northeast, other cities also sweltered under the scorching heat. On Monday, Philadelphia reached 99 degrees, setting a record high for the date, according to CNN. In Boston, Tuesday’s 102-degree reading marked the hottest June day ever recorded there, the Boston Globe reported.
Temperatures reached 97 degrees in Burlington, Vermont, on Monday, making it one of the three hottest June days ever recorded there. The city typically doesn’t see heat like that until mid-July, and even then, it’s rare to reach such highs.
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