It will be the hottest day in over a decade for parts of the East Coast as extreme heat wave reaches its peak
The brutal conditions, spurred by a potent heat dome, are peaking Tuesday after Monday's heat in the East reached levels rivaling summer's hottest weather and started to take a serious toll.
Two high school graduations in Paterson, New Jersey, in Monday's sweltering conditions sent 16 people to the emergency room and over 150 people were evaluated for heat-related illnesses, Paterson Fire Chief Alejandro Alicea told CNN.
In Baltimore, an Amtrak train stalled in a tunnel and left passengers trapped in the heat for over an hour Monday afternoon.
'I honestly thought I was going to collapse on the train, and I'm fairly young and in good shape,' passenger Laura Evans told CNN, adding several of the train's cars were without air conditioning even at the start of the journey.
The extreme temperatures also prompted closures of some attractions, including the Washington Monument in Washington, DC, which closed Monday and remained closed Tuesday due to an Extreme Heat Warning, according to an alert on the National Park Service website.
Nearly 160 million people in the eastern half of the US are under heat alerts Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Heat remains the deadliest form of extreme weather in the US. Globally, heat waves are becoming more frequent, more severe and longer-lasting as the world warms due to human-caused climate change. Nighttime temperatures are taking the hardest hit from climate change, and are warming faster than daytime highs.
Extreme heat also takes a toll on infrastructure, causing materials like concrete and asphalt to expand and warp. Parts of key thoroughfares in Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin, suburbs were closed after buckling under searing heat Sunday, local officials said. More than 50 buckles were reported in the state, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Similar scenes unfolded in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and the city warned more streets could crack as the heat persists.
Rail and air travel could face continued challenges as temperatures peak Tuesday.
Tuesday will likely be the hottest day of the week for many in the East, but a level 4-of-4 extreme heat risk is in place through at least Thursday that stretches from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic and includes parts of the Northeast.
It feels more like July, summer's hottest month, than June for many locations Tuesday as temperatures rise 15 to 20 degrees above normal. Triple-digit high temperatures will set in from the Carolinas north into southern New England – including every major I-95 city.
Tuesday in Boston could be hotter than it's ever been in June. The forecast high of 101 degrees would break the June high temperature record and come within 3 degrees of the all-time record.
Philadelphia could also make a run for its all-time hottest June day – 102 degrees – with a forecast high of 101. A high of 101 degrees would also make Tuesday the city's hottest-ever day this early in the summer. The city broke Monday's daily high temperature record when it reached 99 degrees.
New York City could hit 100 degrees for the first time in over a decade on Tuesday. The city's last triple-digit temperature happened on July 18, 2012, but it hasn't been 100 degrees during June since 1966 – nearly 60 years. Like Philadelphia, a high of 100 degrees would make Tuesday New York's hottest day this early in the season. Monday marked the city's hottest day in nearly three years.
Washington, DC, is forecast to notch its first 100-degree day of the year on Tuesday – something that doesn't typically happen until mid-July. A high of 101 degrees in the nation's capital would break Tuesday's daily record of 100 degrees.
Parts of the East Coast will start to see some relief from the historically hot weather Wednesday, though it'll be a slow start.
Wednesday will still be very hot, but not quite as extreme for many. Record-breaking temperatures are possible, mainly in the mid-Atlantic, but triple-digit temperatures will be a thing of the past for the Northeast.
Heat more typical of late June will arrive on Thursday and continue into the weekend.
This heat wave is likely only the opening act of a hot summer to come for the East. A hotter than normal summer is expected for the entire Lower 48, according to the Climate Prediction Center.
CNN's Chris Boyette, Sarah Dewberry, Taylor Romine, Amanda Musa, Jillian Sykes, Tyler Ory and Luke Snyder contributed to this report
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Residents in Alaska's capital urged to evacuate over flooding threat from melting glacier
Hundreds of residents in Alaska's capital of Juneau have been urged to evacuate over an imminent glacial flood threat. On Tuesday, Juneau officials said on Facebook that there was a glacial outburst at Suicide Basin, a side basin of the Mendenhall Glacier above Juneau, according to the National Weather Service. As the Mendenhall Glacier recedes in a warming climate, the basin has released glacier lake outburst floods that have caused an overflow of water along Mendenhall Lake and River every year since 2011. 'The basin is releasing and flooding is expected along Mendenhall Lake and River late Tuesday through Wednesday,' Juneau officials wrote in Tuesday's post. 'Residents are advised to evacuate the potential flood inundation area.' The Anchorage Daily News reported that more than 1,000 residents and businesses were placed under the evacuation alert. The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning until Thursday at 8 a.m. local time. The Mendenhall River is currently at 9.85 feet, and the major flood stage for the river is 14 feet. The service warned the river will crest at 16.6 feet at around 4 p.m. Wednesday. This forecasted flooding could break a record, which was set when the Mendenhall River crested at 15.99 feet in August 2024. Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has issued a disaster declaration in response to the imminent glacial flood threat. 'By issuing this declaration before the flood occurs, we can position state resources and personnel in advance to support local and tribal governments in their efforts to protect lives, homes, and essential services,' Dunleavy said in a statement. 'Our goal is to act early to reduce impacts and preserve community safety.' The imminent record-breaking flood this summer follows two years of severe flooding, according to a press release from Alaska's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which announced Dunleavy's declaration. After last year's devastating flooding, which damaged homes and public infrastructure, two miles of flood control barriers along the Mendenhall River were installed. 'I really do feel like we are prepared this year,' Juneau Manager Katie Koester told The Washington Post. 'I'm really hoping that we'll have a success story by Thursday.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Utah narrowly missed its driest July on record. Can this week break its dry stretch?
July is typically one of Utah's driest months, but last month narrowly missed a 125-year-old record that explains how drought conditions have worsened as quickly as they have statewide. Utah collected an average of 0.25 inches of precipitation last month, well short of the nearly inch of rain it averaged during the 20th century, according to data released by the National Centers for Environmental Information. It also ended up the second-driest July since statewide data was first collected in 1895 — just 0.05 inches above the record-low collected in July 1900. Last month was also 2.7 degrees above the average, but not as hot as the last few years. Its average of 74.2 degrees Fahrenheit tied for 17th warmest July on record, while the previous three years remain among the 10 hottest on record. Utah's meteorological summer — the combination of June, July and August — could ultimately break a record that was also set in 1900. Paired with June, which was the state's 34th driest on record, this summer is on track for its fifth-driest on record. The state needs to collect more than a third of an inch overall statewide by the end of August to avoid the 125-year-old record low of 0.88 inches statewide. The numbers reflect a predominant pattern that has kept Utah warm, dry and windy so far this summer. The traditional pattern that often brings oceanic moisture to Utah — typically from mid-July through August — has mostly set up farther south and east than it normally does, meaning that more storms have ended up in areas south and east of Utah, Sam Webber, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told last week. A series of low-pressure patterns also set up over the Pacific Northwest, but none of those ended up in Utah. As such, many Utah cities have experienced long periods without rain. Salt Lake City hasn't received measurable rain since July 4. Even southern Utah communities more likely to receive monsoonal rains in the summer — like Monticello and Cedar City — have not received measurable rain in over three weeks. All of this has shown up on the drought map. About 70% of Utah was in drought at the end of May, including 46% in severe or extreme drought. The whole state is now in drought, including 66% in severe or extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Utah's reservoir system also dropped from 86% capacity in June to 70% by the start of this week, per state data. Monsoonal return? Monsoonal rain is back in Utah's forecast this week, which could break up some of the state's dry streaks, but it's unclear yet how beneficial the storms will be. A high-pressure system coming into Utah via the Pacific Coast will first create more hot and dry conditions for the first half of this week. It will then help bring in monsoonal moisture as it continues moving east, crossing the Four Corners during the second half of the week, said KSL meteorologist Devan Masciulli. The way the system is forecast to move is expected to create a more traditional monsoonal setup, possibly creating isolated showers and thunderstorms on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Many parts of the state have a 20% to 30% chance of precipitation on Thursday and Friday, as it's difficult to project where monsoonal showers will set up or how much a storm will deliver. The only problem is that weather forecast models aren't overly optimistic about Utah's precipitation totals. Northeast Utah and parts of south-central Utah could end up with the highest totals by the end of the week, projected to be closer to 0.5 inches, according to the National Weather Service. That could bring decent moisture over the Monroe Canyon and Beulah fires burning in those two regions. But with less moisture in the models, Masciulli points out that storms could lead to more microbursts and dry thunderstorms — two elements that can spark new fires and spread existing ones. It's something that meteorologists and firefighters will both track this week. Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found online, at the KSL Weather Center. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Hot weather can be hard on your car's battery. Here's what to do about it
Winter has a reputation for being tough on car batteries, but experts say summer heat can be even worse. And with this year's record-breaking heat wave across North America, the impact is becoming hard to ignore. Global's Amandalina Letterio reports.
