April scorcher drives mercury to a record-breaking 93

(Video by Andrew Ryan; produced by Martin Finucane)

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Barren trees just beginning to sprout with buds offered no shade from the scorching sun. Spring tulips wilted in the heat, the pink and yellow flowers bowing low as the temperature soared into the 90s. Rollerbladers took off their shirts. Lines formed at ice cream trucks. Bikinis came out of the deep recesses of closets. And the smell of coconut oil and suntan oil wafted from beach towels and dusty lawn chairs.

PHOTO GALLERY A day at the beach

The weather offered an early but fleeting taste of summer today, giving New England an April gift after a long, cruel winter. A blast of unseasonably warm air pushed the temperature to 93 degrees at Logan International Airport, breaking the previous record of 90 set in 1990, said National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson.

"This is as good as it gets," said Peter Doran, 40, an estimator for Suffolk Construction who tucked his purple tie into his button-down shirt to stop it from flapping in the wind on a lunchtime walk on the jetty around Pleasure Bay. "That's why I had to get out, because I know it's going to be 50 degrees tomorrow."

The hot weather today is actually better than summer, a dry warmth without that soupy, shirt-sticking humidity of August. A perfect day to bob lackadaisically in a red kayak in Dorchester Bay, warmed by the bright sun but cooled by a gentle breeze. A perfect day for Rene Soto, 25, to sit on a seawall on Day Boulevard and do her English homework for the University of Massachusetts Boston. And a perfect day for 2-year-old Sadira Forcucci to try her new lime-green bathing suit at Carson Beach, digging in the sand with sea shells.

"She's been asking for a beach day since the fall," said her mother Heather Forcucci, 34. "The only problem is tomorrow when it's 50 she'll ask to come back." The high temperature for Wednesday is expected to be in the upper 50s, more than 30 degrees lower than today.

Sidewalks filled with strollers, bicycles, and dogs on leashes with tongues wagging in search of water. Three bartenders lugged their lawn chairs and beach towels to the beach at the end of I Street in South Boston, glad that they would not again spend an afternoon indoors.

"It's gorgeous," said one of the bartenders, Louise Waters, 30, who wore a black-and-white bikini and squinted behind sunglasses.

Her friend and co-worker, Laura McDermott, 32, used her hand to shield her eyes from the sun.

"It beats shoveling snow," McDermott quipped.

Today's temperature edged close to the all-time record for the entire month, which was 94 on April 18, 1976, according to the weather service. It was the second recordbreaking temperature in three days. Sunday's high of 87 cracked the previous record of 85 set back in 1872, the first year records were kept in Boston. Normal highs for this time are around 60 degrees, Simpson said.

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