NYC weather: Cooler temperatures, some rain expected this week, NWS says

It was warm enough to melt chocolate Sunday, but not hot enough to break the record.

Sunday’s high of 87 degrees was the second warmest Easter since 1869. The Easter record was set on April 18, 1976, when the mercury moved all the way up to 96 degrees.

And Sunday placed fourth in the “Hottest April 16” contest, with the record set in 2002 when temps reached 92.

While March was chillier than usual, Sunday’s scorcher helped to hike our average temp so far this April to 59.1 degrees. The 30-year average to this point in the month is 4.2 degrees lower than what we’ve seen in 2017, noted National Weather Service meteorologist Faye Barthold.

The rest of the week will likely return to the usual spring sprinkles with cooler, close-to-normal temps.

While it should remain mostly dry through Wednesday, a cold front moving in Sunday night will provide a high of 73 degrees for Monday, a low of 49 degrees Monday night and northwest winds ranging from 15 to 20 miles per hour.

Tuesday, which, like Monday, should be mostly sunny, drops down to a range between 59 and 43 degrees, with winds out of the east ranging from 10 to 15 degrees, Barthold said.

It may pay to bring along an umbrella when you walk out Wednesday: The chance of rain on the 57 to 52-degree day goes up to 40% with “hit and miss showers” expected, Barthold said.

Thursday warms to a high of 65 degrees, but the threat of rain continues to waver between 40 to 50% as we become “a little unsettled,” Barthold continued.

Friday — which should flex between 61 and 48 degrees — could also be rainy, but the wet stuff should clear out that night, setting the stage for what might be a clear and fairly sunny Saturday, said Barthold.