Philly, Boston hit 100, NYC breaks record from 1888 amid heat wave
Tuesday was the hottest day in more than a decade for millions of residents across the Northeast, with AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature resembling conditions in Death Valley.
As record-breaking heat continues across the Northeast, you may be wondering when relief will come. AccuWeather forecasters have some good news for you.
Records dating back to the 1800s have been shattered as an early-summer heat wave roasts large areas of the central and eastern United States. AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures have blown past the 100-degree mark, air conditioners are on full blast, and cities are opening cooling centers to help people cope with the intense heat.
“This is an incredibly hot and steamy heat wave for the month of June,” AccuWeather® Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.
Tuesday's heat breaks 137-year-old record
The heat wave peaked on Tuesday, and it wasn't just the hottest day of 2025, but the hottest weather many residents in the Northeast have experienced in over a decade.
The mercury soared to 102 degrees in Boston on Tuesday afternoon, making it the hottest day in the city since July 22, 2011 when it reached 103. Philadelphia also notched its first 100-degree day since July 18, 2012.
In New York City, the temperature fell just shy of hitting triple digits, but the high of 99 degrees was still enough to best the previous daily record for the date, surpassing the high of 96 degrees set on June 24, 1888. Some areas not far from Central Park, where the official weather observations for the city are taken, did manage to hit 100 degrees, including Newark (103) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (102).
Other cities across the region that reached 100 F on Tuesday afternoon include Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; Wilmington and Dover, Delaware; and Manchester, New Hampshire.
Monday's records
The first full week of astronomical summer wasted no time warming up, with many thermometers across the region reaching levels they haven't hit in years.
Baltimore's Inner Harbor was one of the hottest spots on Monday, with a high of 104 F. The high humidity and strong summer sun made it dangerously hot outside, with the AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature topping out at 113 degrees. To put this heat into perspective, 113 degrees is the historical average high temperature in Death Valley in mid-June.
Newark, New Jersey, reached 101 degrees, breaking its daily record of 99, and Raleigh, North Carolina, tied its daily record of 100, set last year.
Although other weather stations broke records, they were all below 100 degrees. Most notably, the temperature at Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, rose to 93 degrees, breaking the daily record and setting June's highest reading. This was the first 90-degree day at Mount Pocono since 2013.
Sunday's records
On Sunday, three weather stations broke the high temperature records for the date. Alpena, Michigan, hit 97 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the previous record of 93 set in 1975. In Valley, Nebraska, the mercury pushed up to 94 degrees, breaking the old record of 91 from 2023. And in Marquette, Michigan, the old record of 90 degrees, on this date in 1995, was smashed by a reading of 93.
But it's not just daily record highs. Records for warm nights are also being broken at breakneck speed. Saturday night tied the all-time high minimum historical record for Green Bay, Wisconsin, at 79 degrees, previously achieved in July 4, 1897, and July 30, 1916. Wausau, Wisconsin, didn't cool below 78 degrees, which had previously happened only on July 4, 1999. The fact that these records were previously recorded in July is an indicator of how early this severe heat wave is.
Record warm nights for June were also set at La Crosse, Wisconsin, (80 degrees) and Mason City, Iowa, (77 degrees) Saturday night.
AccuWeather’s Leslie Hudson was live on the AccuWeather Network on June 24, amid a sweltering heat wave.
There is some relief in store for folks in the Northeast looking to cool off.
An out-of-season cold front more typical of spring or autumn will drop southward from New England and through part of the mid-Atlantic during the middle and latter part of the week.
"This can dramatically drop temperatures by 20-40 degrees in some cases, which is about as big as it gets this time of the year," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said.
After hitting 101 on Tuesday, the high temperature in Boston on Friday is likely to stay in the 60s. During the middle of the heat wave in New York City, the low temperatures at night were in the 80s, but by Thursday and Friday, the afternoon high temperatures will be in the 70s.
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