Heat, Humidity Settle In

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of an expanding heat wave settling in over the eastern United States.
Heat, Humidity Settle In
7/6/2010
Updated:
7/6/2010
[xtypo_dropcap]T[/xtypo_dropcap]he National Weather Service (NWS) warned of an expanding heat wave settling in over the eastern United States, as residents in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions in particular braced for mid-week 100-degree days.

The weather service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), issued its advisory at 3:40 p.m. EDT Tuesday, warning of a high pressure area over the eastern portion of the country that “will continue to bring hot and humid conditions across the north country through Wednesday.”

The NWS advisory warns that a “period of high temperatures with heat indices between 100 and 104 are expected. The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a situation in which heat illnesses are possible.”

It is this combination of temperature and high humidity that makes the heat so oppressive.

In Boston, temperatures broke 100 degrees by early afternoon Tuesday, the first time this has happened in eight summers. Temperatures will begin to cool down to the high 80s for Boston by Wednesday, and by this weekend high 70s to low 80s are expected.

New York hit a high of 102 degrees Tuesday, according to Accuweather.com, and will continue to wilt under temperatures in the high 90s Wednesday, cooling down toward the weekend. Similar temperatures and forecasts were reported in Philadelphia.

Washington, D.C., reported a 102 degree temperature late Tuesday afternoon, and high temperatures are to continue through Wednesday, cooling off into the high 80s-low 90s by the weekend.

Although a chance of scattered thunderstorms in parts of the East could cool things down slightly over the next few days, the Southeast will continue to endure hot temperatures and high humidity, with predicted highs still in the 90s.

A CNN blog contained reports circulated late Tuesday about contingency plans Amtrak has for the heat wave. They will establish emergency services for passengers, specifically along the railway’s Northeast Corridor routes.

The plan includes providing rescue locomotives to respond if trains break down, or lose their air conditioning. The new Amtrak plan is probably related to a breakdown Monday of an Amtrak train en route from Boston to Washington, D.C.

The train lost power at the Larchmont station in New York, stranding 610 passengers for two hours, without air conditioning.