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Heat to near record for 2 days

E-mail|Link|Comments () May 21, 2009 04:36 PM

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Stifling air from the South smothered New England today, pushing the temperature up to 91 degrees at Logan International Airport.

The arrival of the summer-like weather missed the record, set in 1921, by 2 degrees. An encore of 90 degrees is predicted on Friday, which would fall short of the 93-degree record set in 1959.

A high pressure system off the New Jersey coast can be blamed for the unseasonable warmth, sucking hot air up from below the Mason-Dixon Line, according to Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton. While the temperature will surge past the normal high this time of year of 68 degrees, it will not feel like an early taste of the dog days of summer.

"It will be dry," Buttrick said, referring to the humidity.

The lack of humidity may lessen the impact of 90-degree weather in May, but for beachgoers there is also a downside to the early blast of heat. The summer sun has not yet warmed the sea, which means the water temperature in Massachusetts Bay is 51 degrees.

"It will take away your breath," Buttrick said.

The heat is expected to break overnight on Friday when a cold front will drag temperatures back down to normal. Highs are expected in the 60s through the holiday weekend.