March heat shatters records across the Northeast

Overall hotter temperatures made their way across northeastern cities along the coast on Friday, but while some residents in major cities such as New York City and Philadelphia got to soak up some sun and unseasonably warm weather, others just a few miles away were stuck with typical-for-March temperatures.

The Philadelphia International Airport reached 81 degrees at 2 p.m. EDT. on Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Philadelphia does not usually hit 80 degrees until the first week of June. AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio said the final high for the day ended up being 82 degrees in the city, beating the previous record high for March 26 dating back to 1921 of 80 degrees.

Atlantic City, New Jersey, also shattered its March 26 record that was previously set in 2003 at 71 degrees when temperatures climbed to 83 degrees on Friday.

In addition, Richmond, Virginia, hit the milestone of surpassing 80 degrees for the first time this year. Not only did temperatures surpass 80 degrees for the first time since last October, but the temperature kept climbing up to 86 degrees, beating the previous record set in 1939 of 85 degrees.

Newark, New Jersey; Baltimore, Maryland and Arlington, Virginia, also topped 80 degrees, Rossio said.

New York City experienced record-breaking heat as well. Temperatures in Central Park hit 82 degrees on Friday, making it the hottest March 26 on record. Central Park's previous record high was 76 degrees, which was achieved in 1922.

Despite the record-breaking heat in the city, the Long Island MacArthur Airport, located about 50 miles east of Central Park, only reached 67 degrees. Montauk, New York, located at the tip of Long Island, only rose to 54 degrees.

“An impressive temperature gradient developed across Long Island today as the rather cool maritime wind flow [wind flow coming off the water] kept temperatures down along eastern sections of the island," Rossio explained. "Meanwhile, the southwesterly flow kicked in in New York City and nearby suburbs, promoting the continental airmass to infiltrate the area and bring much warmer temperatures in.” 

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Rossio said it is not unusual for there to be such a stark contrast in temperatures in the New York City area.

"It frequently happens during the spring months because the water is rather cool, but the land heats up quickly," Rossio explained.

While parts of the state got to bask in the sun's warmth, over 82,000 customers stretching from New York to Ohio lost power as of 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, according to PowerOutage.US, amid strong winds. Over half the people out of power were customers of New York State Electric and Gas.

Pennsylvania also experienced a slew of outages with electricity faltering for around 78,000 customers. New Jersey also neared 20,000 outages on Friday evening, and Ohio reported over 20,000. Later in the evening, Massachusetts also began experiencing outages that impacted over 26,000 customers.

Reports of damage caused by strong winds rolled in throughout the day from New York to Vermont. Downed trees and power lines were reported to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center (SPC) due to the weather, and an injury involving structural damage was reported in Addison County, Vermont.

An EF-1 tornado was reported in Addison County, Vermont on Friday afternoon, with an estimated wind speed of 110 mph. The tornado's track stretched a mile long, and resulted in two injuries, according to the SPC.

As the winds die down, temperatures are forecast to remain largely mild across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic this weekend, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert.

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