Thursday, 4:30 PM
Hub hits record heat mark, but it'll be cold soon
By Raja Mishra, Globe Staff
Boston reached a record high temperature this afternoon, breaking a mark that had stood since 1881.
The official thermometer hit 69 degrees at 1:43 p.m., surpassing the previous record for Nov. 30 of 68 degrees, the National Weather Service said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson said the balmy weather was the result of a cold weather system stalled above Alaska, which for complicated reasons has prevented the typical early winter jet stream from carrying cold weather to New England. Into this gap, a high pressure system brought in warm air from the Gulf of Mexico.
"We've been stuck in this pattern on-again, off-again all month," said Simpson.
But he said the warm times were nearly over: "We could get snow by Sunday."
