New Yorkers Enjoy Taste Of Summer Weather In The Fall
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The calendar says fall, but it feels more like summer in the Tri-State area.
CBS2's Elise Finch reports New York City was nearly 20 degrees above the normal temperature Monday. The high in the city was 81 degrees. The normal this time of year is supposed to be 63.
In Central Park, the record is a steamy 90 degrees and while the temperatures won't come close to that, it will still be plenty warm. We didn't hit that, but by 2 p.m. we were at 80 degrees, which is the normal high for June 19.
The day started off with cool temperatures, but things warmed up quickly.
"It's like, wow, I can't believe it's mid-October. Are you kidding me?" said Frankie Legs of Maspeth, Queens.
With plenty of sunshine and unseasonably warm temperatures, many in Columbus Circle opted to leave their jackets at home Monday.
"We've left our rainy weather stuff at home and we're headed into the park to meet som friends," said mother Agnes Annells. "It's a very nice surprise for us, we've got a very small child who's very happy to come run around Central Park rather than be stuck indoors."
By noon, temperatures in Central Park were already in the mid-70s -- apparently warm enough for sun-bathing on the lawn.
"That just means I can wear my shorts, I can relax a little, maybe I'm going to break a sweat on my ride but that's alright," Legs said.
"I think it's absolutely fabulous," Upper West Side resident Marian Harris said. "It's a gorgeous fall day."
At Bryant Park, they're in the process of building their ice skating rink, but today's sunshine and warm temperatures meant ice and snow were the farthest thing from people's minds.
"It feels like I'm in Florida," said Dewey Dennis of Marlboro, New York. "It's a great thing. I hate winter."
Some people clearly enjoyed this mid-fall warm-up, while other said they could do without it.
"I just put a lot of summer clothes away," said Tracy Matters of Jamaica, Queens. "Now I had to pull things out so I like it to be if it's that particular season, let it be that season."
"It's still really warm and then winter comes and there's not much transition. It goes like straight summer to winter and I want my transition," said Andy Pollack of the Upper West Side.
The warm spell will be broken by the weekend when temperatures are expected to drop back down to the low 60s.
