Record-breaking heat bakes region

If you thought it was unusually warm today, you were right. Record high temperatures hit Long Island and the rest of the metropolitan area on Wednesday.

A new record high was set at Long Island MacArthur airport in Islip, where the thermometer reached 85 degrees at 1:33 p.m. The old record for the day, set in 1991, was 81 degrees.

A scant 24 minutes later, Central Park broke the all-time record for April 7 as well, when the mercury got up to 92 degrees. The old record had stood at 89 degrees for the last 80 years, said the National Weather Service.

On Long Island, the average high temperature for this day is 55 degrees, accoding to the Regional Climate Centers and the National Climatic Data Center of the National Weather Service.

Official weather stations on Long Island found temperatures sweltering indeed. The high was 86 in Farmingdale, 82 in Brookhaven and a cooler 79 in Westhampton Beach.

Record high temperatures for the day were scored at LaGuardia and Kennedy airports as well, with readings of 91 and 87 degrees, respectively.

It has been quite a steamy three, as daily records have come tumbling down in Islip on Sunday and Saturday, and a new record for March 20 as well.

Temperatures will start scaling down on Thursday, with only a high of 56 expected on Saturday.