Key keywords: Boston record high temperature, 2024 Boston spring heatwave, hottest spring day in 100 years Boston, 96 degrees Boston May weather, New England extreme spring heat, Boston climate change impact, National Weather Service Boston, Boston seasonal temperature anomaly The National Weather Service (NWS) Boston office confirmed on Wednesday that the city hit a peak temperature of 96 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, officially shattering its 102-year-old spring temperature record and marking the hottest day recorded in the city between March and May since official record-keeping began in 1891. The previous high for mid-May was 92 degrees, set in 1922, and Tuesday’s reading was a staggering 27 degrees above the long-term average high of 69 degrees for this time of year. The unseasonably extreme heat disrupted daily life across the Greater Boston area throughout the day. More than 40 public schools in low-income neighborhoods without central air conditioning announced early dismissals by 1 PM to avoid heat-related illness among students and staff, while local hospitals reported a 30% rise in emergency room visits for mild heat exhaustion, mostly among elderly residents and young children who spent extended time outdoors. Boston’s most popular public green spaces, including the Boston Common and the Emerald Necklace park system, saw record attendance as residents sought shade and cool breezes, with local ice cream trucks and frozen treat vendors reporting 3 to 4 times their usual daily sales for mid-May. Utility provider Eversource reported minor rolling power outages in 12 residential neighborhoods throughout the afternoon as the city’s power grid strained under record demand for air conditioning, and issued a public advisory asking residents to limit non-essential electricity use between 1 PM and 6 PM to reduce system strain. Meteorologists noted that the immediate cause of the heat wave was an unusual stationary high-pressure system parked over the U.S. Northeast, but added that the frequency of such unseasonable extreme heat events has risen sharply in recent decades. “Over the past 20 years, Boston has recorded 7 spring days with temperatures above 90 degrees, compared to just 3 such days in the entire 60-year period between 1940 and 2000,” said NWS senior meteorologist Sarah Jenkins. “This is a clear signal of the impact of long-term climate change on local weather patterns, and we expect to see more of these outlier heat events in coming years, along with hotter average summer temperatures.” Dozens of other cities across New England also broke their own spring temperature records on Tuesday, including Providence, Rhode Island, which hit 94 degrees, and Hartford, Connecticut, which reached 95 degrees. Temperatures are expected to fall back to a seasonal average of 65 to 72 degrees for the rest of the week, with light rain forecast for Thursday and Friday, but city officials have already issued warnings for higher-than-average heat risk throughout the upcoming summer months, urging residents to prepare for potential heat waves by stocking up on cool drinks and identifying local public cooling centers in their neighborhoods.