This summer was a scorcher

New numbers confirm what the sweaty brows of Northeasterners have been saying for months: The summer of 2010 was a record-breaking scorcher.

Preliminary figures from the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University show 28 cities from Washington, D.C., to Caribou, Maine, set record highs for average temperature from March through August. The records are expected to stand, as the remaining days of August are forecast to be hot.

Art DeGaetano of the climate center says the average temperature during spring and summer in Manhattan's Central Park is up by 5 degrees, to 67.5.  Scorching temperatures and high humidity made it feel like at least 100 degrees in other parts of the country, prompting heat advisories in 18 states.  But the unrelenting heat is unusual in places like Burlington, Vt., and Portland, Maine.