Second day of record warmth bathes parts of New England

People walk along a path in the Charles River Esplanade park, in Boston, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020, while enjoying unseasonably warm weather. Temperatures climbed into the low 70s in many places in the state Sunday. (AP)

BOSTON — 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 72 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.

A bit south on Sunday, New York City reached a record high of 68 degrees in Central Park, according to the National Weather Service.

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.