Temps soar into 90s in East, Midwest

Posted 7:53AM on Wednesday 17th April 2002 ( 23 years ago )

ALBANY, N.Y. - Strolling through a park with her 6-month-old daughter, April Harrison worried that winter had melted into summer, bypassing spring completely. ``I don't want it to be this hot so soon,'' Harrison said Tuesday in Albany's Washington Park. ``I like it in the 70s. When it gets in the 80s, it's unbearable.'' For much of the East and Midwest this week, it has been almost that. Summer-like temps have people across the region playing hooky, replacing their trousers with shorts and feasting on ice cream instead of soup. ``I couldn't wait to bring the kids out,'' said Carolyn Kennard, who brought her 2-year-old daughter, nephew and two other children to Washington Park. ``When I mentioned the word 'park,' they were at the door.'' After an odd winter that saw tulips sprouting in January in Iowa and a March snowstorm blamed for more than 20 deaths from Texas to the Great Lakes, temperatures turned balmy Monday and Tuesday. ``It's freezing one week and roasting the next,'' said George Smith, who moved to Albany from Victoria, British Columbia, two weeks ago. ``Last week, it was freezing, and I thought, 'What's going on? It's supposed to be spring.''' More hot weather was expected for the Northeast on Wednesday, while thunderstorms over the Appalachians were forecast to cool that region down a few degrees. The temperature in Albany hit 89 degrees Tuesday - some 32 degrees above the normal high and 1 degree above the previous record set 106 years ago, said meteorologist Bob Kilpatrick of the National Weather Service. New York City posted a 92-degree high, breaking the 1896 record for the day of 88. New Jersey's Newark International Airport passed its record of 82 during the morning and kept going to 92. Williamsport, Pa., hit a record 90, as did St. Louis. Civil War re-enactors in wool uniforms suffered at 95 degrees at Pamplin Historical Park near Petersburg, Va., and Washington's Reagan National Airport peaked at a record 92. Other records fell in Pittsburgh, which broke by 1 degree its old record of 85 degrees set in 1896, and Fargo, N.D., which smashed by 7 degrees its old mark of 82 set in 1913. In the Adirondacks, Lake Placid students went swimming at the village beach, braving waters that still held a thin layer of ice hours earlier, said Sandy Caligiore, spokesman for the Olympic Regional Development Authority. In the Great Lakes, spiking temperatures on Tuesday caused the remaining snow packs to melt rapidly and fill streams with runoff, swelling water levels. The parched Northeast would love some of that water. Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York have all been suffering under drought emergencies that the heat wave was expected to exacerbate. Still, many people had more immediate needs - cooling off. Like many places with frozen treats, Toft's Dairy and its ice cream parlor with 58 flavors was a popular place in Sandusky, Ohio. ``The lines were to the door and we're short staffed,'' said Christine Jones, a manager. ``Everybody has on shorts, tank tops and bathing suits.''

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/202447