Dangerous heat pushes AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures to 100-110 F in the Northeast
Due to the vicious heat wave hitting many parts of the U.S. this weekend, city leaders in Cincinnati are doing their part to keep residents cool. All of the pools operated by the Cincinnati Recreation Commission(with the exception of one) will be open and free to use Friday through Sunday.
Heat has already been blamed for the deaths of at least four people, as well as causing more than 100 residents to evacuate a senior center in New Jersey after air conditioning failed. More lives are in jeopardy with heat advisories stretching from eastern Maryland to eastern North Carolina on Monday.
A woman lost consciousness and died while on a hike in Montgomery County, Maryland Saturday, the Associated Press reported.
More than 50,000 Con Edison customers lost power on Sunday in New York City, which drew the ire of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
"We've been through this situation [with] ConEd time & again & they should have been better prepared—period," Cuomo said on Twitter. He said he was deploying 200 state police officers, 100 generators and 50 light towers to help those affected by the outages.
Most of the outages occurred in Brooklyn. By Monday morning, more than 30,000 customers had been restored, the utility said on Twitter and the remaining outages were expected to be resolved by Monday afternoon.
More than 100 residents were evacuated to a local high school shortly after 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday from a senior center in New Jersey after the building lost power and air conditioning during the extreme heat wave. No injuries have been reported, according to WPVI-TV.
Before the weekend began, the mayors of Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., declared heat emergencies, and both New York City and Baltimore issued Code Red Extreme Heat Alerts. The heat emergencies are expected to end on Monday.
"The temperatures we're seeing in our city [this weekend] could be the highest we've seen in years. Take it seriously," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urged his city in Twitter post Saturday afternoon.
Heat emergencies typically involve the opening of cooling centers and the extension of public swimming pool hour, and cities often implement special measures to keep residents safe.
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Andrew Cashner wipes sweat off his forehead on Sunday in Baltimore, where the National Weather Service says there is an "oppressive and dangerous" heat wave. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Police in Braintree, Massachusetts, asked people to hold off on committing crimes until after the heat wave passes.
“Folks. Due to the extreme heat, we are asking anyone thinking of doing criminal activity to hold off until Monday,” the department wrote in a Facebook post on Friday. The post has gained more than 130,000 shares since Friday.
The sentiments were echoed by the Pelham Police Department in New Hampshire.
"Due to the extreme heat, the Pelham Police Department is officially canceling (sic) all criminal activity for today. It is just too hot to be outside committing crimes. We are asking all aspiring criminals, seasoned veterans, and those who find themselves committing crimes out of boredom, to please stay indoors," the department wrote in a Facebook post late Friday afternoon.
Several locations across the mid-Atlantic reached the 100 F degree mark on Sunday, with several more locations falling a degree short.
The AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature at the nearby airport in Nashua, New Hampshire, reached the century mark for the third consecutive day on Sunday.
Widespread triple-digit AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures created dangerous conditions for residents and visitors across the mid-Atlantic, including at all of the major cities along the I-95 corridor, before noon EDT on Sunday.
"The actual high of 100 F in Baltimore on Saturday was the city's first triple-digit reading since July 25, 2016," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski.
"While the heat has been extreme during the daylight hours, the nights have offered no relief," she added.
The "low" temperature in Boston on Sunday morning sat at 83 F. For comparison, the average high for the day is 82 F.
Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, reached 100 by 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday. This ended up being the high temperature for the day, falling short of breaking the record high of 101 F for July 21 set back in 1991.
"A westerly wind also sent the heat surging across Massachusetts' Cape Cod on Sunday," Pydynowski said. "Temperatures soared into the lower 90s at Chatham, where a high in the middle 70s is more common this time of year."
Atlantic City hit 100 F on Sunday, breaking a record from 1981 of 99 F.
Many records came close to beating the record high temperatures on Sunday, but ended up tying previous records instead. Bridgeport, Connecticut, tied a record high of 98 F, last set in 1991. Also, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York hit 99 F, tying a record from 1991.
From the Northeast to New Mexico, at least seven record high temperatures fell on Saturday.
New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport soared to 99 on Saturday, which broke the daily record of 96 set in 2013 and 1991.
On Saturday night, Pittsburgh International Airport recorded an off-hour (an observation that occurs in between the standard top of the hour readings) dew point of 80 degrees F. According to the National Weather Service, the airport has only recorded one hourly dew point of 80 degrees F since 1948, which was on July 18, 1952.
In central Pennsylvania, Harrisburg and Altoona set daily records for the highest low temperature on Saturday. The temperature in Harrisburg only dropped to 79, breaking the previous record from 2015. The day's average high is 86, for perspective. In Altoona, the temperature dropped to 74, breaking an almost 30-year record of 72 degrees set in 1991. The day's average high was 82.
A handful of events previously scheduled for the weekend were either canceled or postponed ahead of the heat.
On Thursday evening, the 2019 Verizon New York City Triathlon was canceled due to severe heat warnings and thunderstorm watches in the New York City metro area. There will not be an alternate race weekend. The race had previously been scheduled to take place on Sunday.
Even though the race was canceled, the triathlon and Life Time passed out water bottles and Gatorade at a hydration station.
Saturday horse races at New York's Saratoga Race Course were also postponed.
"This is a responsible and prudent decision that aligns with our New York Racetrack Heat Management Protocol designed to ensure safe racing for all participants," New York State Gaming Commission Equine Medical Director Dr. Scott E. Palmer said in a statement.
Remember, during hot weather, never leave children and pets unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Car interiors can reach lethal temperatures very quickly; it takes only two minutes for a car to reach unsafe temperatures. There have already been 21 children who have died this year from being left in a car for an extended period of time.
Four children in Texas have died in hot cars during 2019. Three more died in Florida and two in Arizona and Tennessee each. All other states highlighted in orange have had one death each. In total, about 21 children have died from being left in cars during 2019.
On Thursday, the National Weather Service Office in Omaha, Nebraska, demonstrated how hot cars can get in the summer by baking biscuits on the front dash. After a total of eight hours, the staff had their snack. But it took much less time for the interior to reach a literally baking heat.
"This is a good time to remind everyone that your car does in fact get deadly hot. Look before you lock! On average, 38 children die in hot cars each year. Don't be a statistic!" the service posted with a photo of a thermometer that read 175 degrees F for the surface of the baking pan after staying inside the car for an hour. It took 45 minutes for the dough to start to rise.
"Relief from the oppressive heat wave will gradually sweep over the central U.S. and into the Northeast into early week but will come at the expense of severe thunderstorms and flooding downpours," according to Pydynowski.
Download the free AccuWeather app to stay alert to temperature trends in your community. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
