More Record Heat

Temperatures more typical of August than April set new records Tuesday across New Jersey, and the mercury was expected to continue to approach 90 for at least another day.

"This is too hot, too soon," said Danny Pinto, the foreman of a public works crew spreading hot asphalt on a street in Hillside. "It feels like it's 100 degrees out here."

The asphalt has to be heated to between 200 to 300 degrees to make it sufficiently malleable before it can be spread on road surfaces, said worker Kenny Powell.

"You can cook in it," he said of the tar heating kettle. "You can bring cold food from home and heat it up in it. I do it all the time."

Highs of 85 to 90 were forecast for most of New Jersey, with only the coastal areas getting a break from the early heat. Temperatures along the shore were expected to be in the 70s Tuesday and Wednesday.

"The same weather pattern that gave us temperatures in the 60s and 70s on some days during the winter is now giving us 80s and 90s in the spring," said Bill Goodman, a meteorologist with the weather service's Mount Holly office.

He said the last time it was this unseasonably warm in April was 1976, when a series of new highs was set.

Temperature records dating to 1976 were broken Tuesday at Atlantic City International Airport in Pomona and Trenton Mercer Airport, the weather service reported.

Atlantic City hit 86 just before noon, breaking the old record of 84. Trenton's old record of 82 was also broken by midday as the thermometer reached 83.

Goodman attributed the current warm spell to a weather system known as the "Bermuda High," a mass of high pressure that sits just off the coast, drawing warmer air from the southwest to northern and eastern regions.

A weak weather front expected to move through the state late Wednesday night into Thursday morning should cool things off a bit, with highs in the 70s, before more normal seasonal temperatures of 60 or so return over the weekend.

But until then, guys like Mack Brown will be reveling in it. A security guard at a Union Township parking lot, Brown said Tuesday's weather was perfect.

"Not too hot, but nice and warm," he said. "I'd take it like this every day of the year. I wish we had more of it."

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Author: 6 ABC-AP