A blazing heat wave will continue to grip portions of the Northeast through the end of the week. The heat will again challenge records, strain power grids and pose health hazards for over 80 million people.
Triple-digit heat will expand from Augusta, Ga., to Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, Pa., and Trenton, N.J., today. New York City will flirt with the century mark, while highs soar into the 90s elsewhere across the Northeast.
The heat wave caused numerous record highs to be set on Tuesday, and that will likely occur again today.
Adding to the danger of the heat will be the presence of higher humidity. AccuWeather.com RealFeel® temperatures will rise above actual temperatures as a result, and people will become more susceptible to heat-related illnesses.
When high humidity is in place, the body is not able to cool itself as quickly as when the dew points are lower.
To combat the heat, many people are cranking up their air conditioners. That, however, has and will continue to put a strain on power grids.
CNN.com reported that as many as 9,000 customers lost power in Stamford, Conn., on Tuesday. A heat-related transformer failure at a substation led to the outage.
Not all of the Northeast will endure sizzling temperatures. Air flowing in from the ocean will prevent temperatures from cracking the 90-degree mark along the New England coastline. This includes Boston and Portland.
The westward spread of this ocean air will reach more of the I-95 Northeast Thursday, but interior areas will continue to suffer through the end of the week.
Despite a decrease in actual temperatures in some locations, these areas will still have to endure high humidity. The high humidity will keep the air uncomfortable. In fact, humidity levels could be at their highest level of the siege Thursday and Friday.
As humidity levels rise, so will the coverage of thunderstorms across the Northeast.
Related to the Story:
Stay Healthy as Temperatures Climb
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NOAA released its 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast Thursday, predicting another active season.
This holiday weekend, a rare astronomical phenomenon will occur that will not be seen again until October 2015.
San Antonio is getting hit by heavy thunderstorms on Friday afternoon and evening.
A few days after a chilly storm departs the Northeast, warm weather will make a strong comeback in parts of the Midwest and the East later next week.
Severe weather and drenching downpours will affect parts of the Plains and Midwest over the Memorial Day Weekend.
"This pup was literally singing when he saw his family," Michelle Karolicki, relocation program manager of the Central Oklahoma Humane Society, said about a reunion that took place on Thursday.
| Extreme | Location | |
|---|---|---|
| High | N/A | |
| Low | N/A | |
| Precip | N/A |
Knoxville, TN (1807)
Hail 10" in circumference hail; a tornado went
over the river, sucking fish out of the water.
Abilene, TX (2000)
109 degrees, hottest ever in May.
Newton, NJ (1925)
96 degrees on the 23rd; 39 degrees on the morning
of the 24th.
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