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Hottest Day Anniversary
By
Joe Schumacher
Published Aug 7, 2009
Modified Aug 7, 2009
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By
Joe Schumacher
Published Aug 7, 2009
Modified Aug 7, 2009
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While July 9th, 1936 had the highest temperature, 106, ever recorded in Central Park, today is the anniversary of the warmest day and night. August 7th, 1918 started out with a sultry low of 82 and warmed up to 102 for an average daily temperature of 92 degrees. Must've been a great day to be in an AC-less, fifth floor, one-bedroom tenement on Orchard St. that you shared with 20 of your closest friends and relatives. The Times reported that "tens of thousands went to Central Park to sleep, and hundreds lay in Bryant Park and other open spaces". The much more colorful Tribune quotes an "East Side boy" as yelling to his friend "Say, Emil, let's go over to the Bowery and watch the horses fall dead."
Today's high will be around the low temperature of that long ago August morning. High pressure to the west means a sunny, mild afternoon with highs in the lower 80s. Look for cooler conditions along the shore as a sea breeze gets circulating. The sea breeze front may also produce a few clouds.
Mostly sunny again tomorrow with a few clouds later in the day. A warm front is headed this way Saturday night, making for some unsettled conditions through Sunday. Look for scattered showers and thunderstorms. Inexplicably, weather.com is calling for a Sunday high of only 82, but we're casting our lot with the Weather Service's upper 80s. Everyone is currently agreeing that Monday will warm to a sticky 90 degrees.
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historic heat wave
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Joe Schumacher
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