BOSTON - East Coast residents sought refuge yesterday from sweltering temperatures, flocking to beaches, pools and air-conditioned malls as the mercury soared.
The temperature in New York City’s Central Park hit 38.9 degrees, shattering a 1957 record of 38.3 degrees, according to AccuWeather.com.
The National Weather Service issued excessive heat warnings and advisories for wide swaths of the US’s mid-section and along the east coast from Maine to Georgia.
Higher than normal temperatures were likely to hover over the eastern half of the United States for the next couple of weeks, the weather service said.
In Pittsburgh, city worker Brian Hilliard was sweating heavily as he tossed recycling bags into a truck. “We’re drinking gallons of water, and we’re just killing ourselves today,” he said.
At a nearby supermarket, teenager Jenny Marze said she had been seeking relief inside the air-conditioned store.
“It’s like an arctic rush in there, but out here it’s like Mexico or something,” she said.
The heat roasted the midwest for nearly a week, causing perhaps 34 deaths in 10 states before it moved east.
On Thursday, an 18-year-old cadet at the US military academy in West Point, New York collapsed and died during outdoor training exercises. Military authorities were investigating whether the afternoon heat played a role, a spokesman said.
In Michigan, rolling power blackouts were instituted to help relieve stress on power plants, according to the weather service. It said 30,000 people were without power in Detroit.
In New York city, the heat prompted power provider Consolidated Edison to reduce voltage in some neighbourhoods, a so-called brownout. The company said increased use of air conditioners could push power usage to a record yesterday.
Con Edison and other energy service providers in New York state and across the US northeast activated some of their demand response programmes, which pay consumers to reduce power usage during peak times when needed.
Customers were encouraged to reduce their power usage by turning up the air conditioner thermostat, turning off lights, elevators and other electrical equipment, and for those with backup generators on site, producing their own electricity.
PJM, the nation’s biggest power grid operator, said consumers used a record amount of power on Thursday and it expected near-record demand yesterday.
East Coast cities should expect to near or surpass record highs, according to AccuWeather.com.
The midday temperatures yesterday in Newark, New Jersey, and Baltimore were 40 degrees, breaking both cities’ 1957 record of 38.3 degrees.
“Today in the midwest and the northeast, it’s not only record heat, but the humidity is unusually high as well. It’s kind of a double-whammy,” said AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Tom Kines.
Thunderstorms rolled through the midwest yesterday, providing some relief from the stifling heat.
Offering a low-energy option in the heat, food bloggers posted a recipe for “car-baked chocolate chip cookies”. “Park your car in the sun on a 100 degree-plus [fahrenheit] day,” the recipe on Baking Bites advised. “Place baking sheet on car dashboard.”
The cookies take up to three hours to bake, it said. – (Reuters)