Record-breaking heat shows that some really do like it hot

Yesterday's record breaking heat added a double meaning to the term Sun-day, as students took advantage of a surprise preview of spring to play frisbee in the Quadrangle and study outside. But not everyone was playing. Steve Forgione, manager of the Baskin and Robbins Ice Cream shop on the 3900 block of Walnut Street, said he might have to work overtime to meet up with the demand the high temperatures have brought. "Sales are non-stop," Forgione said, "It's customer after customer." And not everyone saw the weather only as a benefit. Landscape Project Planner Robert Lundgren explained that the unusually warm weather could be detrimental to the foliage around campus. Spring bulbs begin to come up earlier when there is warm weather since they sense spring, Lundgren said. These plants are often killed if the colder climate returns. "If it is consistently warm it is okay," Lundgren said. "But the up and down is confusing for the plants." But most on campus used the warm windfall to take their shorts out of the back of the closet and take walks or play sports outside. Wharton freshman Joshua Shale strolled to Rittenhouse Square to see Center City. "This is the weather that makes life worth living and makes you feel alive again," Shale said. Some students used the warm weather to participate in their favorite sports that can not be enjoyed in the cold. College sophomore Mike Holtsberg played Ultimate Frisbee and was surprised that he could play without the fear of frostbite in February. "The weather was just right," Holsberg said, "I wasn't sweating or anything, and it wasn't too cold." First-year Fine Arts graduate student Mark Isaksen, like Shale, also went for a walk to Rittenhouse Square, but completed the day with a drive to Fairmont Park. Isaksen said it was a perfect day to see the historic houses. The 62-degree high set a new Philadelphia record. The old record high, set in 1927, was 56 degrees, according to KYW-TV staff meteorologist Tom Lamaine. But Lamaine cautioned yesterday that record breaking heat will not necessarily be the norm this month. "This is one of the lowest record highs, so it was one of the easiest to break," he said. The highest recorded temperature for February is 79 degrees and was set February 25, 1939. Although yesterday did bring a record high temperature, scientists maintain it is not necessarily indicative of global warming. High daily variations can not determine general trends, since they can be countered by an abnormally cold day later, experts said. "One has to sum up the effects over a long time, before you can say it is a trend," said Geology Professor Hermann Pfefferkorn. University Police officer Tammie Watson also expressed the downside of hot weather when she explained that more violent crimes occur on hot days. Watson is not certain if this is applicable to warm winter days, or just the summer months.

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