Second Day Of Record Warmth Bathes Parts Of New England

BOSTON (CBS/AP) — Bostonians ditched their parkas, mittens and thermal underwear for a second day as record-breaking warm temperatures again bathed the region in springlike temperatures.

In Boston, the mercury reached a wildly unseasonable 74 degrees Fahrenheit.

That not only smashed the record of 61 degrees for the day set in 1913, 1975, and 2017, according to the National Weather Service, it was also only the fourth time since records began being kept in 1872 that Boston saw any January day reach 70 or above.

Saturday was the third day to reach that mark with temperature topping out at 70 degrees in the city.

The warmth spread across other parts of New England.

In Connecticut, the Hartford Courant reported the record for Sunday was broken at 4:51 a.m., when temperatures reached 62 degrees. The previous record of 60 degrees was set in 2018.

The mild weather was also accompanied by some damaging winds. Downed trees and limbs were reported in Upton, Brookline, West Bridgewater and Duxbury.

"We heard a large bang," said a woman in Hanover. "Very loud. I thought something fell on the roof."

A branch had fallen down in front of the woman's house. It was dark at the time, and a driver who didn't see the limb ran into it but was uninjured in the crash.

This weekend's weird weather delighted golfers who were able to hit the links at a time of year when many golf courses are covered in snow. The weather was tougher on outdoor ice skating rinks which were either melting or closed.

Despite the balmy weather, few New Englanders were lulled into thinking they will escape winter's wrath completely.

Temperatures are expected to dip back into the 30s and 40s for much of the week.

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)