NYC Broils in Record 103 as Heat Wave Hits Northeast

[MNeagle]

July 6 (Bloomberg) -- New Yorkers were warned to stay in the shade and check on relatives and neighbors today as the temperature soared to a record 103 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the mark for the date of 101 set in 1999.

The temperature in Newark, New Jersey, also hit 103, a record for the day, Richard Castro, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said in an interview from Upton, New York.

Castro said the reading in New York’s Central Park peaked at 3:11 p.m. It was the highest temperature in New York since temperatures hit 103 on Aug. 9, 2001. The city’s record was 106 on July 9, 1936.

Temperatures were forecast to reach 100 or feel worse from Virginia to Maine, putting stress on power agencies to supply air conditioning. Consolidated Edison Co. urged customers to conserve power during the day, according to an alert from New York City’s emergency notification program.

“It will be so hot this afternoon that the weather could affect anyone no matter their age or overall health,” according to a weather service warning. “Please consider postponing any strenuous activities or workouts. Keep your pets in a cool location and provide them with plenty of water.”

The longest stretch of consecutive 100-plus days on record at Central Park came in 1993, when it rose from 100 on July 8 to 102 on July 10.

Queen Elizabeth II of the U.K. was among those braving the heat today, as the 84-year-old monarch made her first visit to New York since the 1976 bicentennial of U.S. independence from Great Britain.

The weather service issued heat advisories for much of the East and Northeast, meaning the high temperatures may have serious health consequences.

Warnings Issued

An excessive heat warning was issued for eastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, where it was 102 at 1:54 p.m.; parts of New Jersey, including Trenton; and northern Delaware, according to the weather service. It hit 105 at Baltimore-Washington International Airport and 102 at Washington’s Dulles airport.

“There is a high pressure system that has been sitting here and building a lot of hot weather for us and there is nothing to push it out of the way,” said Lauren Nash, a weather service meteorologist in Upton, New York.

New York City is forecast to remain at 90 or above until the weekend. The normal temperature for today in Central Park is 83.

New York’s Consolidated Edison power company was preparing for record demand today, said a spokeswoman, Elizabeth Clark.

Washington was forecast to reach 102 degrees today and 101 degrees tomorrow, and remain at 90 or above until the weekend.

Air Quality

In addition to the heat, air quality advisories warn that pollution and ground level ozone will be dangerous today, especially for people with breathing problems, according to the weather service.

Today’s air quality index value in New York was to peak at 120 today, the weather service said. The index was created to give residents an easy way to determine the severity of pollution, with the higher the number “the greater the health concern.”

The heat in New York comes as the city just ended its fourth-warmest June on record, the weather service reported. The average temperature in Central Park was 74.6 degrees Fahrenheit (23.6 Celsius) in June, according to the agency. The record was set in June 1943, which posted an average temperature of 76.2 degrees.

A heat wave is defined as at least three days in a row of temperatures of 90 or more, and temperatures in New York reached the upper 90s the past two days. New York’s last weeklong heat wave was in August 1998, while the longest was 12 days from Aug. 24 to Sept. 4, 1953, according to agency records.

Yesterday’s High

Yesterday’s high temperature in Central Park was 99, two degrees shy of the record 101 set in 1999, according to the weather service. The cooling degree days value for New York was 23, 12 higher than normal, according to the weather service.

Cooling degree days, calculated by subtracting a base of 65 degrees from the average daily temperature, is a value designed to show energy demand, according to the weather service. The higher the value, the warmer the weather, and thus the more energy is probably consumed to cool homes and businesses.

Yesterday’s high in Newark was 102 degrees, one shy of the daily record 103 set in 1999. The cooling degree day value in Newark was 23, 11 above normal.

The value in Boston was 18, 10 above normal; 21 at Washington’s Reagan National Airport, 7 above normal; and 21 in Philadelphia or 9 above normal, according to the weather service.

Elsewhere, air quality alerts have been issued for western and central North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and western Pennsylvania. Heat warnings have also been issued for parts of Michigan and Kentucky, according to the weather service.

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aXTMvFN1QPvw

[General of Darkness]

BREAKING NEWS

6 Million NY jews die in Holocaust Heat. Several rabbis have confirmed that Israel is planning on suing the Sun.

[Skirnir]

Yes...the Hasidim will regret wearing the black coats with the funny hats today ;D

[AndreaGail]

hell and here i am struggling with 80

[iOWNme]

These girls in NY are claiming 103* to be a 'Heat Wave'?

Hike your skirts up, set your purse down and fix your lipstick, its melting......


;D

[dysgenic]

I made the mistake of putting on some weight when my wife was pregnant, so I took the opportunity yesterday (100 here) to put on my longjohns, garbage bag, fleece pullover, and wintercoat and go for a run. Felt like I was breathing in fire. And you should have seen the looks people were giving me.... priceless.

dys

[MNeagle]

Dsy, sounds like the perfect recipe for killing yourself w/ heatstroke... :conf: Please don't orphan & widow your family man!

[BrewTech]

Weather in the SoCal IE:

72 & sunny.

SEVENTY TWO.

:o

[oldmansmith]

Hot, got over 90 today here. It seldom does as we are over 1,000 feet (high for taxachusetts).

[SLV^GLD]

Boone, NC is projected for 99F tomorrow. That is stupendously hot for that particular mountain area.
I am typically scoffish of "it's sooo hot" whiny-ass news but I about fell out of my chair when I saw the forecast for Boone.
My particular area will be about 105F tomorrow. I'm not looking ofrward to it but I won't melt, either.

Edited to point out that I do not know a single person in Boone or surrounding areas who has air conditioning in their home (and I know several people).

[jetgraphics]

Blame it on Queen Elizabeth II - she's visiting North America.

[MNeagle]

Major ice shortage due to heat! At least their power's holding up so far...




People in Northeast seek to beat triple-digit heat

(CNN) -- Temperatures approached or surpassed the 100-degree mark for a second consecutive day in many Eastern Seaboard states, the National Weather Service said Wednesday, as a deadly heat wave washed over the region.

Richmond, Virginia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Philadelphia International Airport in Pennsylvania; Mount Holly, New Jersey; and Newark International Airport in New Jersey all registered triple-digit temperatures early Wednesday afternoon. At Baltimore-Washington International Airport in Maryland, temperatures also hit 100 degrees Wednesday afternoon, 4 degrees shy of Tuesday's high. But CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said heightened humidity Wednesday made it feel similar to Tuesday -- and he warned that the hottest time of day lay ahead later in the afternoon.

Waterparks, pools and even fire hydrants became gathering places for people trying try to cool off as the record-breaking heat wave continued to roast much of the region.

The weather service has issued an "excessive heat warning" until 8 p.m. Wednesday and an "excessive heat watch" for Thursday morning through Thursday afternoon for parts of eastern Pennsylvania and parts of Delaware and New Jersey. The warning covers cities including Philadelphia; Wilmington, Delaware and Trenton, New Jersey.

Officials are advising people to stay indoors as the prolonged heat and humidity creates a "dangerous situation."

The heat already has claimed at least two lives. An elderly woman was found dead Monday night in a Philadelphia home without air conditioning, said the city medical examiner's office. An adult was found dead inside a Baltimore home with a temperature higher than 90 degrees, the Maryland state health department said Wednesday.

Young, fit people have succumbed to the extreme temperatures, too. Four midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, were being treated for signs of heat exhaustion Wednesday morning, according to academy spokeswoman Judy Campbell.

By Wednesday morning, about 1,170 customers in Connecticut, 9,246 customers in New York state, 1,696 in Massachusetts and 8,300 customers in New Jersey were still without power. Power providers in Pennsylvania and other New England states were reporting very sparse and scattered outages, generally under 100 in each state.

Michael Clendenin of Con Edison told CNN's American Morning Wednesday that his company has been able to keep the power on for all but 6,000 or so of its 3.2 million customers in New York City.

"It is the kind of thing we expect in heat waves like this and we are working very hard to try to minimize the impact." Clendenin said.

He warned that the situation is far from over.

"So far, I would say we dodged major bullets. I think there's still a big shoot-out going on." Clendenin said.

Power isn't the only thing in sporadic supply in the heat-afflicted region. According to the general manager of the White Oak Ice company in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, "The whole tri-state area is just about out of ice -- New Jersey, Philadelphia and Delaware. Absolutely unbelievable. It's terrible up here. We haven't experienced this in 12 years, 13 years," said John Sylvester.

"All the big major companies are out of ice. Guys are scrambling. They're calling for ice and it's coming from Wisconsin, Ohio, the Carolinas and they're running out. Demand is way higher than what everyone can produce and I don't see any end in sight," Sylvester added.

"Other ice companies are calling us begging for ice. There's only a certain amount of guys who manufacture and a company like ours, we're keeping up with it but we're coming to an end. We've used all our ice in storage. We start storing in February or March. We make a couple hundred tons a day."

In New York, the city set up as many as 400 cooling stations in its five boroughs, according to the Office of Emergency Management.

Emergency Management Commissioner Joe Bruno urged people to use the center, and advised neighbors to check on neighbors to make sure they are well.

Some of those neighbors might not have air conditioning to begin with.

New Yorker Alfred Roblero not only lacks air conditioning in his apartment, he has to walk up six flights of stairs to get there.

"It's terrible. Most of the time my heart is like beating like... like I need air because of the heat," Roblero told CNN's Jason Carroll.

"This is a significant health emergency as well as a heat emergency," Bruno said.

New York City officials say the unauthorized opening of fire hydrants often spikes during heat waves. Residents are being warned not to open hydrants without spray caps, because it's "illegal, wasteful and dangerous," and could lead to fines and/or imprisonment.

The city says illegally-opened hydrants could impede firefighting, waste more than 1,000 gallons of water per minute and knock down children, causing injury -- but adults can get legally-approved spray caps from their local firehouse that will limit water flow to 20-25 gallons per minute when placed on a hydrant.

In Middletown, Connecticut, police issued summonses for second-degree reckless endangerment to two high school football coaches who held practice in the heat, leading one student to collapse.

The assistant football coaches at Middletown High School staged a "strength and conditioning session that consisted of weight training and running" from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, the Middletown police said.

A student passed out during a phase of the running that involved "sprinting up a hill several times," police said.

In Nashua, New Hampshire, Ben Dionne spent part of Tuesday outside cleaning out a pool. He told CNN affiliate WMUR he was following experts' advice to stay hydrated. "It's hot. I'm just trying to stay cool and get as much water as I can."

In Philadelphia, a 92-year-old woman was found dead in her home. The woman, who was discovered by a neighbor, had opened a few windows but did not have air conditioning, said a medical examiner's spokesman.

The National Weather Service is urging people to protect themselves.

"Be sure to check on your elderly relatives and neighbors. Coaches, trainers, camp counselors should remain alert for signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke," the weather service warned.

The heat can also adversely affect animals, and that's having an impact on a popular New York City tourist attraction. The city's health department bans carriage operators from working their horses "whenever the air temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit or above," said department spokeswoman Suzanne Craig. She said anyone offering horse-drawn carriage rides at those dangerous temperatures is subject to fines from both the health department and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or ASPCA.

ASPCA officers in Central Park told Craig that operators complied with the mandate Tuesday, sidelining their businesses in the heat, except for early in the morning and late at night when temperatures dipped below 90 degrees, she said.

Some people are fleeing the city for cooler places nearby. Mountain Creek Waterpark in Vernon, New Jersey, is drawing a lot of New Yorkers, park spokeswoman Alice Heinrich said Wednesday. "It has been one of those weeks where everyone gets the idea, they see a heat wave and don't have pools, so they come out to the waterpark."

Heinrich said the waterpark is reminding visitors via its loudspeakers to drink fluids -- and making it easier for them to do so. Waterpark workers are going around handing out water to people waiting in long lines for rides, she said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/07/heat.wave/index.html?hpt=T2

[BrewTech]

That's funny...


Temperatures approached or surpassed the 100-degree mark for a second consecutive day in many Eastern Seaboard states, the National Weather Service said Wednesday, as a deadly heat wave washed over the region.

How come when it's over 100F here for like a month straight it is never described as "deadly", only as "Summer"...

(Not making fun of actual dead people...)

[TPTB]

Heat waves are miserable, but the thing I hate most about Florida and the deep south in general is that the heat wave lasts for half the year. 95 degree and up days, day after day, month after month, with humidity that never goes below 80%... Summer sucks.

[Grand Master Melon]

It seems to me this happens every year and every year a few people die.

I think they call it summer but the newspeople seem to think it's something more.

Where I'm at it's 105 right now and I'm not complaining.

[BrewTech]

It seems to me this happens every year and every year a few people die.

I think they call it summer but the newspeople seem to think it's something more.

Where I'm at it's 105 right now and I'm not complaining.


It SHOULD be near or over 100 here, but it's only 73. I don't get it. The sun is out!

[SLV^GLD]

As a followup, Boone, NC never approached 99F; strike one for the weatherman.

However, my wife works in a tiny local shop and the AC until went out the night before last and she got to spend the day in a 100F+ building. Needless to say, she was not in a good mood when she got home.

FWIW, a heat wave could be defined as a 99F day in Boone, NC and considering the complete lack of infrastructure for dealing with heat you might find a few dead people. Personally, so long as I have access to clean drinking water and something to cover my skin I can withstand 100F+ temperatures day in and day out. I know because I pretty much do that every single SUMMER.

I am more annoyed by 90F+ nights because a bright shining sun brings an expectation of heat but nighttime brings an expectation of relief.

[Twisted Titan]

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBlRuGFT7Ew

[keehah]

Finially getting above 70 here in the PNW after a cold dark spring.

Globe and Mail, June 28, 2010 (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/as-ice-melts-vanoc-chief-cleans-up-the-mountains-and-the-books/article1623766/)

Late-spring snowstorms at Cypress Mountain – the site that couldn’t produce so much as a flake during the Vancouver Olympics – have delayed his cleanup plan. Now, as the CEO of Vancouver’s Olympic organizing committee looks to close the books on the 2010 Winter Games once and for all, the unfinished job at Cypress is one of the last remaining projects standing in his way.

As recently as last week, VANOC crews were still pulling equipment from melting ice on the mountain, including reams of power cables buried in snow after the Games concluded.

Speaking of the North East heat wave, I thought I recall reading last month an article suggesting that if GoM weather modifications are ramped up all out to minimize hurricane risk, this will mean a dryer hotter North East (where the storms used to tend to track).

No worries, tax money well spent. An East Coast drought and heat wave will be a good thing to help sell the criminal's new air tax. :sarc:

[StackerKen]

Humidity obviously plays a big part.

It will be 98° here today...but the humidity is only 37%...Not so bad.

[SLV^GLD]

Humidity obviously plays a big part.

It will be 98° here today...but the humidity is only 37%...Not so bad.
No, kidding. Down here in the SE you get a bloody nose if you see less than 50% rH. On these wonderful summer days our humidity is generally about the same number as the temperature.