By Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — It's not your imagination; this July could be the hottest month ever, according to the National Weather Service.
As of Tuesday, the average daily temperature for the month was 81.8 degrees in Central Park. If the forecast holds for the remainder of the month, July will scorch itself into history by beating New York's old heat record of 81.4 degrees set in July of 1999.
"We're going to come out to within a degree of 1999," said National Weather Service Meteorologist John Murray. "It's going to be really close."
In a month with two triple-digit days and plenty of highs in the mid to upper 90s, it's no surprise July could be one for the books.
"It's crazy hot," said shirtless Harlem resident Kareem Brown, 25, as he walked home from the pool on Tuesday. "This is the worst summer I've seen in New York.
The extreme heat has caused three deaths in New York so far, according to the city's medical examiner. A 22-year-old Brooklyn man died of hyperthermia over the weekend and two other people died on July 6 when temperatures hit 103 degrees.
Temperatures topping out in the 90s on Wednesday will keep Manhattan on track to break the record, but a cold front moving in on Thursday should cool the city down with highs in the low to mid 80s through the end of the month.
The cooler weather, likely a joy for overheated New Yorkers, could be enough to drop July's average below record levels, according to Murray.
But don't turn off the air conditioners yet.
"The outlook for August is for above normal temperatures," Murray said.
