PORTLAND (AP) – After enduring weeks of colder-than-normal weather, Maine enjoyed some fleeting – but record-breaking – warmth on Sunday.

The temperature hit 51 Sunday in Maine’s largest city, setting a new record for the date, according to Butch Roberts, meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Gray. The last time the temperature hit 50 in Portland was back on Dec. 10.

But alas, Roberts said the warmth was only “a brief tease.”

Temperatures began cooling down with the arrival of a new front, he said. Temperatures were expected to be in the teens or single digits overnight.

Nonetheless, people took advantage of the brief warmth to get outdoors. And hundreds of motorists took the opportunity to wash away weeks of salt and grime from their cars.

“It’s a good day for a car wash. There are lot of dirty cars out there,” said Jim Landry, manager of Classy Chassie in Portland, where more than 800 cars were washed Saturday and Sunday.