Dangerous heat that has scorched other parts of the country for more than a month spread to the nation’s most populous region on Thursday, with spiking temperatures and a blanket of oppressive humidity that prompted widespread heat warnings in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.
The heat will probably peak in the region on Friday, when about 118 million Americans, more than a third of the population, were expected to be in the “danger” zone, where the heat index — a measure that combines temperature and humidity — would rise into the 100s, according to a New York Times analysis of National Weather Service and U.S. Census Bureau data. That’s among the largest proportions of the U.S. population to be threatened at the same time by extreme heat so far this year.
More than a dozen daily heat records could be set across the Northeast on Thursday and Friday, meteorologists said, with many of them likely to occur at night, when temperatures are unlikely to cool down as much as usual.
Cities up and down the East Coast responded to the looming heat spike with emergency measures aimed at preventing heat-related illnesses and deaths. In Philadelphia, where temperatures were forecast to reach 96 on Thursday and 99 on Friday, city leaders declared a “heat health emergency,” extending the hours when 32 air-conditioned sites will be open for residents to seek relief and adding extra outreach to people without housing.
At the South Philadelphia Older Adult Center, where the heat index had already reached 90 degrees by 9 a.m. on Thursday, Larry Guerra, 88, sat outside near a shaded bocce court taking in some sunshine while it was still bearable.
“I’ll get vitamin D, and then I’ll go in in about five minutes,” Mr. Guerra said. He planned to stay at the center until midafternoon to keep cool, then head straight home. “Once I leave here, I won’t go out at all.”
In Baltimore, where temperatures were expected to reach 99 degrees on Thursday, the city declared a “code red” extreme heat alert, its first of the season. Mary Beth Haller, acting health commissioner, said the alert would remain in place through Saturday in hopes of convincing residents to take precautions.
Severe thunderstorms were expected to sweep through many states on Thursday afternoon and evening, including Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, where scattered flood watches were in effect on Thursday. Among the places at risk for flooding were Springfield, Mass., and Montpelier, Vermont’s capital city, which was inundated with several feet of water earlier this month after heavy rainfall pushed rivers over their banks.
Facing three days of potentially record-setting temperatures of 95 to 100 degrees on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, New York was placed under an excessive heat warning by the National Weather Service through Friday night. So was Washington, where temperatures were expected to hover around 100 degrees into the weekend.
The planet has warmed by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 19th century and will continue to grow hotter until humans essentially stop burning oil, gas and coal, scientists say. The warmer overall temperatures contribute to extreme-weather events and help make periods of extreme heat more frequent, longer and more intense.
Over the next few days, New York City could see its hottest stretch of the year, if not several years, according to Dominic Ramunni, a meteorologist in the New York offices of the Weather Service. Though the temperature in Central Park has hit 90 degrees or higher on six days this year, it has not yet reached the threshold to be considered a heat wave, which in New York is three consecutive days above 90 degrees.
In the Midwest and Southwest, which are already reeling from heat, residents will continue to swelter. In Phoenix, scorching high temperatures of up to 113 degrees were forecast through Saturday, continuing a long stretch of torrid, life-threatening weather. The city did see a welcome milestone on Wednesday night, when the temperature at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport dipped below 90 degrees for the first time since July 9.
For at least some parts of the country, relief is forecast for next week, with temperatures and humidity levels in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast expected to fall back into a normal range — if not below average — on Sunday and Monday.
Donna Owens contributed reporting from Baltimore, and Joel Wolfram from Philadelphia.
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