NYC Heat Wave Brings Sunbathers To City Parks (360 Degree Video)

NEW YORK, NY — If you blinked, you may have missed spring 2017 in the city. The winter-like temperatures and cold rains that have plagued NYC through the end of April and beginning of May are finally behind us this week — but they've given way to a whole new set of extremes.

A high temp of around 80 degrees on Tuesday brought hordes of sunbathers out to the city's parks. Below, play with a 360-degree video shot at Central Park's Sheep Meadow on Tuesday afternoon.

Temps are expected to climb even higher in the coming days, according to the National Weather Service. Wednesday's predicted high is 84 degrees, and Thursday's is 89 degrees — a full 20 degrees above the seasonal average.

"Heat and humidity will be increasing with the peak... Thursday," the weather service said.

Temps should then return to seasonal norms as we move into the weekend. Friday's high is expected to be around 81 degrees. And Saturday and Sunday will likely be much cooler, with highs in the upper 60s, government forecasters said.

Still, the skies over NYC should stay mostly sunny through the weekend, according to forecasters.

Because our bodies have been acclimating to the unusually cold weather in NYC these first few weeks of May, the National Weather Service is advising New Yorkers to drink plenty of fluids and not over-exert themselves as they get used to the warm weather.

Lead image by Ali Kucukgocmen