More sizzle on way

Here’s a record we’d probably just as soon not have broken: The mercury on Tuesday hit 98 degrees in Orlando and a sweltering 99 degrees in Sanford, cracking previous ceilings.

The temperatures were recorded Tuesday afternoon at Orlando International Airport and Orlando Sanford International Airport, the National Weather Service in Melbourne said.

The previous record in Orlando was 97 degrees, set in 1996. In Sanford, it also was 97, set in 2005.

Expect more of the same today, when 97-degree temperatures are predicted across most of Central Florida — 5 degrees higher than normal. Isolated thundershowers also could move across the area in the afternoon, the weather service said.

The record for today’s date in Orlando is 98 degrees, set in 1972, meteorologist Bob Wimmer said.

The nighttime hours will bring some relief, with lows in the 70s but lingering humidity, another weather forecaster said.

— Susan Jacobson www.orlandosentinel.com