By Trevor Kapp and Wil Cruz
DNAinfo Staff
MANHATTAN — It's the first day of February, and the forecast is for T-Shirts.
A day before the groundhog predicts the outlook for the rest of the winter, New Yorkers are wondering if the season will ever actually arrive.
"For February, I don't expect this," said M.D. M.D. Soumare, 33, Upper East Side, a driver for real-estate company who was sitting outside Central Park. "It should be snowing and 19 or 20 degrees, not 50-something."
Wednesday's temperatures were expected to reach a balmy 61 degrees — close to the record high of 67 degrees recorded on Feb. 1 1989. With barely any snowfall this year, and even ice a rare sight, spring feels like it arrived a long time ago.
"We don't believe we'll get the record, but we're flirting with it."" said Tim Morrin, a meteorologist with the service, of Wednesday's warmth.
The weather was much different last year, when the high for the day was 30 degrees and more than an inch of snow fell in Central Park, according to the National Weather Service.
The average temperature for the day is 39 degrees.
"I can't complain," said Marcus Islam, 22, a fashion distributor who lives in Brooklyn. "It beats being bundled up with scarves and hats.
"Hopefully it gets even warmer," he added.
The coldest Feb. 1 in history happened in 1920, when temperatures dropped to -2 degrees. In 1934, a record 9.8 inches of snow fell, according to the service.
The forecast for the rest of the week is expected to dip back to more normal temperatures. Evening temperatures are expected to drop to 35 degrees, and the forecast for the rest of the week has temperatures in the mid 40s.
"It's fabulous!" said Suzanne Segure, 28, of Williamsburg. "It's way better than snow. You don't have to shovel anything."
