LI sets high-temp record of 93 degrees

A surge of heat Tuesday pushed thermometers to the tops of their scales and produced record-breaking temperatures for the date in Islip and at Kennedy Airport, the National Weather Service said. But relief is in sight Wednesday.

In Islip, temperatures reached 93 degrees, toppling the 91-degree record set on the same date in 1993, said John Murray, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Upton. The numbers were higher at Kennedy Airport, which logged a record 98 degrees, upending the record 94 degrees also set in 1993, Murray said.

The atmosphere seemed more like an oven because of the wind direction, which Murray said deprived the region of the ocean's cooling effect.

A high-pressure system from the west is pairing with an unusually mild northwest wind flow to create the unseasonably hot, sticky weather, meteorologist Lauren Nash said.

"The wind from the northwest is picking up heat near dry, hot ground and carrying it to us, along with the high-pressure system," she said.

Wednesday, conditions will be dry and the high temperature will be 87 degrees and the low 70 degrees, the forecaster said. The heat won't be accompanied by humidity, which makes the air feel considerably hotter. With Zachary R. Dowdy