Searing heat wave drives record temperatures across eastern U.S.
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A man is attended to after fainting in the heat outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday as much of the Northeast experiences a severe heat wave. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
An intense heat wave that's striking the Midwest to the Northeast has seen multiple new maximum temperature records set or tied this week, with more to come.
The big picture: Officials in several states have activated emergency operations and opened cooling centers in response to the lingering heat dome that had more than 106 million people under heat alerts on Friday morning.
By the numbers: Southern New England saw multiple daily temperature records set, including in Boston, which hit 98°F on Wednesday.
- The National Weather Service noted on Wednesday several Maine cities were tied for the hottest June 19. This included in Caribou, which reached 96°F, tied for its all-time hottest temperature on record, and preliminary data indicated the 103°F heat index an "unofficial all-time record."
- Hartford, Conn., hit a daily high of 97°F, while in New York both Syracuse (95°F) and Albany (94°F) tied their calendar-day records.
- The NWS' Pittsburgh office said on X Thursday that multiple record daily lows were set across Pennsylvania, including in Philadelphia (71°F) and Wheeling (73°F), while Dubois hit both an all-time calendar high (89°F) and low (71°F).
State of play: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has activated emergency operations that are in effect through Friday for parts of the state impacted by the heat dome and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu declared a heat emergency that was effective through Thursday.
- Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont's extreme hot weather protocol will remain in effect through 12 noon Sunday.
Threat level: The National Weather Service warns that the record-strong heat dome is set to produce more milestone-breaking heat in parts of the Northeast and will shift into the Mid-Atlantic this weekend.
- The hottest temperatures will then settle southward, from the Mid-Atlantic to the Ohio Valley and then to the Southeast.
- "Afternoon high temperatures and warm overnight lows will challenge and exceed daily records for many locations in the Ohio Valley eastward," the NWS said in a Thursday afternoon forecast discussion.
- "Heat index readings are expected to peak from 100 to 105 degrees in many locations, and Heat Advisories are in effect from Ohio to New Jersey."
- The NWS urged those without access to reliable air conditioning to find a way to cool down due to record warm overnight temperatures.
- "Record warm overnight temperatures will prevent natural cooling and allow the heat danger to build over time indoors without air conditioning," the weather and climate agency warned.
Between the lines: Studies show that economic productivity takes a hit during extreme heat events, and that climate change is likely to worsen these impacts in the future.
- Global warming is making heat waves more likely, more intense and longer lasting, and research has found that some heat waves would have been "virtually impossible without human-caused climate change."
What's next: Conditions should improve over New England by Friday due to a slowly moving cold front, but the NWS warned that temperatures well into the 90s°F and higher heat indices were forecast to continue south of the region's boundary, especially across the Ohio Valley to Mid-Atlantic through Saturday.
- The NWS forecast for Washington, D.C., for example, shows a high temperature of 101°F on Sunday. The last time the city hit 100°F was in 2016.
- From roughly D.C. southward, the heat wave will not end this weekend, with temperatures in the 90s°F likely through all of next week as well.
- The record-strong heat dome is forecast to slide southward and sprawl out, covering much of the Southeast to Mid-Atlantic through early July. At the same time, a heat wave in the West is expected to expand.
Zoom out: Much of the Lower 48 states are forecast to be dominated by hotter-than-average temperatures through at least July 2.
Go deeper: How to keep your smartphone cool during a heat wave
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
