Hazy, hot, humid: It’s summer at last

 

“Compared to the 1980s and 1990s when our summers went downhill after July 31, now our hottest days are after July 31.”     Schlacter

 

In bright red capital letters, the National Weather Service proclaimed yesterday, “Central Park breaks 90 degrees for the first time this summer!!!”

After one of the mildest summers on record, some exclamation points were in order.  It’s only the second time in more than a century that New York passed June and July without day in the 90s.

Oddly, the mercury passed 90 twice in spring of 2009 — both times during an abnormally warm stretch of April.

“It’s blazing out there,” said Ed Chou, 25, a Manhattan postal worker, whose undershirt was drenched with sweat. He looked forward to his air conditioning and planned to shower when he got home and before bed.

But after another scorcher today, forecasts call for a return to  highs in the low 80s.

Michael Schlacter, chief meteorologist at Weather 2000, a New York meteorological consulting firm in New York predicted the rest of the summer will feel more like the June than yesterday.

“Our seasons are shifting a bit,” he said. “Compared to the 1980s and 1990s when our summers went downhill after July 31, now our hottest days are after July 31.”