Dangerous heat wave strains power grid; millions warned of triple-digit temperatures
WASHINGTON – A deadly, record-setting heat wave was continuing to blast most of the eastern U.S. on Tuesday, June 24, forecasters said, with temperatures soaring to near 100 degrees for tens of millions of people.
Extreme heat warnings and heat advisories remained in place all the way from St. Louis to Boston on June 24, the National Weather Service said. Other cities enduring these alerts include Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and New York City.
In New York City on June 24, the temperature at JFK Airport rocketed up to 102 degrees, which is the hottest reading ever recorded there in June, the National Weather Service said. This comes a day after temperatures topped 100 degrees in both Newark, New Jersey, and downtown Baltimore and thousands of customers lost power due to the excessive heat.
"It looks like today is probably the worst day for widespread heat records," said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster at the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland, adding that the most intense heat is concentrated in the Northeast.
Oravec noted that temperatures should start to fall on June 25.
Dozens of observed daily high records across the eastern United States
The National Weather Service's eastern region headquarters reported that many observed daily high temperature records were set on June 24, including:
- Baltimore City, Maryland, reached 105 degrees, surpassing the daily record of 101 in 2010.
- Newark, New Jersey, saw 103 degrees, eclipsing the 97 mark recorded in 1966.
- Boston reported a high of 102 degrees. The previous record was 95 in 2013.
- LaGuardia Airport in New York City reached 101 degrees, a new record from the 96 degrees reported in 2013.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, reported that Philadelphia hit 101 degrees on June 24. The temperature was the first time the mercury had topped 100 at Philadelphia International Airport since 2012, the weather service said.
It was the second-hottest temperature recorded in the Philadelphia area, ranking just behind an observed 102 degrees on June 29, 1935. Temperature records in Philadelphia date back to 1873.
"There's no doubt about it many were feeling hot, hot, hot today in the Eastern United States!" the weather service said. "By the way, if you want to cool off, you had better luck in Las Vegas, NV today which only reached 94 for a high!"
Heat-related death, illnesses reported
The multi-day heat wave, which began over the weekend, has already caused at least one death in the United States. A woman in St. Ann, Missouri — a city in northwest St. Louis County — died in her home due to the dangerous heat after having no water or air conditioning for at least three days, KDSK-TV reported.
In Paterson, New Jersey, city education officials rescheduled graduation ceremonies for five high schools that were halted on June 23 after 16 people suffering from heat exhaustion were taken to hospitals for treatment.
Superintendent Laurie Newell said the extreme heat caused "discomfort" for attendees, including the 16 who went to hospitals and another 150 people who were treated by emergency medical technicians at the commencement but declined to go to hospitals.
At the same time, people were overcome by the heat during the graduations. Paterson’s health officer, Dr. Paul Persaud, sent school district officials an email on June 23 stating that International High School should be closed because of excessive temperatures.
His email, obtained by the Paterson Press, part of the Paste BN Network, said temperatures inside the school ranged between 87 and 92 degrees. The email added that the limit set by occupational health standards is 76 degrees.
Extreme heat causes disruptions, closures
The heat wave caused disruptions to public transport across the Northeast. Amtrak said it will be forced to slow train speeds between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. on June 24 between Washington, D.C., and New York, and between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, which could lead to delays.
The extreme heat also affected some tourist attractions. The Washington Monument will be closed on June 24 and June 25 because of high temperatures, according to the National Park Service.
Meanwhile, outdoor workers were urged to take precautions. Construction companies were forced to compensate for the severe weather to ensure that construction workers are safe.
Jeff Wagner, communications manager at construction firm Fluor, told Reuters that the company was providing cooling stations and heavy-duty water bottles to its more than 2,000 laborers working on a pharmaceuticals project in Indiana. He added that workers would start their shifts an hour earlier so they can finish before the hottest part of the day.
"We have safety meetings every morning, but knowing this was going to be an exceptionally hot week, (we spoke about) hydration and making sure workers are pacing themselves," Wagner said.
Heat wave skyrockets electricity demand
The largest U.S. power grid operator says electricity demand skyrocketed on June 23 to the highest level reported in more than a decade, prompting an emergency alert as Americans crank up their air conditioners and fans to beat the summer heat.
PJM Interconnection, which provides power to about one-in-five Americans, said demand reached about 161,000 megawatts June 23, the highest level recorded since 2011. They expect a similar level of demand on June 24.
Daniel Lockwood, a spokesperson for the PJM said it has “sufficient reserves to meet customer demand” through the heat wave.
On a typical day, one megawatt powers about 800 homes, but that number dips on hot summer days. The heat creates a double whammy for the electrical grid, according to the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Demand for electricity soars as people blast their air conditioning, while the heat decreases the ability of systems like natural gas turbines and solar panels to generate and transmit electricity, according to a 2024 blog post from the agency.
– Karissa Waddick
Could heat impact NYC's primary election?
On Tuesday, June 24, as residents of the five boroughs of New York City headed to the polls to cast their ballots, heat radiated off the concrete. Central Park soared to a record 98 degrees by early afternoon, and officials sent out a heat advisory, urging residents to stay hydrated and cool, whether on their way to work or to the polling station.
Whether the heat wave will affect voter turnout remains to be seen, but candidates expressed concern over the Board of Elections' ability to handle any potential power outages at polling stations should they arise
– Anna Kaufman
'Dangerous heat'
"Dangerous heat will maximize across much of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic early this week," said AccuWeather meteorologist Jacob Hinson in an online forecast June 23.
In major cities such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York, the temperature was forecast to approach 100 degrees through at least June 24, which would mark the first time in many decades that triple-digit heat has been experienced in June, AccuWeather said.
Even parts of eastern and northern New England, including Boston and Portland, Maine, which are sometimes excluded from extreme heat, will come within a few degrees of 100 when the heat peaks on June 24, AccuWeather said.
Meanwhile, overnight lows are forecast to drop only into the 70s, with urban centers along the East Coast struggling to drop below 80 degrees at night, the National Weather Service said.
In fact, the temperature failed to drop below 80 degrees in New York City, Newark and Philadelphia on the morning of June 24, the weather service reported.
Power outages reported
Tens of thousands of power outages were reported across several states on June 24. By the night of June 24, more than 71,000 customers were without electricity in Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts, according to Poweroutage.us.
In the Littlestown area in Pennsylvania, about 4,000 people lost power on the evening of June 22 due to a major failure of a transformer at an electrical substation north of the town. That outage was then compounded on June 23, when an electrical substation caught fire in Tyrone Township, leaving around 5,300 without power.
In a social media post, Littlestown Borough Mayor Jennifer Beskid shared that officials were told that Met-Ed has begun gradually phasing in the use of a mobile substation at the Germantown substation north of Littlestown. By June 25, Beskid said, power was hoped to be restored to the thousands of residents in the area without power.
"We expect if there are not any surges and all goes well, we could have power by the morning," Beskid said.
Littlestown is a borough in Adams County, which sits along the Pennsylvania-Maryland border.
– Harrison Jones, Hanover Evening Sun
A record-smashing heat wave
The heat wave has already "smashed records not just for a particular calendar day, but also anytime in June," noted Weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman. "In a few locations, it's even tied or set new all-time records."
Plattsburgh, New York, tied its all-time record high of 101 degrees June 24, the National Weather Service said. This tied the mark set twice before, on August 1 and 2, 1975, and again on August 5, 1955.
On the shores of Lake Champlain, the city reached 100 degrees for only the fourth time in its almost 80-year period of record, Erdman said.
Several all-time records for warm overnight lows were also set or tied in the Midwest over the past several days, including in Green Bay, Wisconsin (79 degrees) and Lansing, Michigan (78 degrees).
A June record was tied June 23 in North Hartland, Vermont: This small town near the New Hampshire border soared to 101 degrees June 23, tying Vermont's June record with St. Johnsbury on June 4-5, 1919, according to weather records expert Maxmiliano Herrera and weather historian Christopher Burt.
Amazingly, this Vermont town was hotter than both Tucson and Yuma, Arizona, Monday (each reached 99 degrees), Erdman said.
Also on Monday, Baltimore's Inner Harbor soared to 104 degrees, just 2 degrees shy of the nation's hottest temperature (106 at Death Valley), he said.
How to stay safe in the heat
- Use sunblock or sunscreen: And reapply it regularly (every two hours is a good baseline.)
- Dress for the heat: Pick loose-fitting, light-colored and lightweight clothes, the National Weather Service recommends.
- Don't leave kids or pets in the car: The temperature quickly becomes deadly − even if it's not that hot out.
- Check the weather: Your favorite weather app should have a wealth of information about UV index (for sunblock purposes), heat warnings and the feels-like temperature. Heat.gov has additional information about the forecast and heat risk.
- Bring water: You'll need multiple bottles of water per person if you're spending extended time in the sun. (How many bottles? Read more here.)
- Seek shade and air conditioning: Minimize your risk by staying cool and avoiding direct sun when you can.
- Know your risks: Heat is dangerous for everyone, but some people are more vulnerable than others. Being a child, over 65 or pregnant puts you at greater risk, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
— Joel Shannon
Tourists grapple with heat in nation's capital
Evidence of the near 100-degree temperatures in Washington D.C. was evident Monday afternoon on the National Mall as tourists, lined up at street vendors selling water and ice cream, took refuge in the shade of trees and camped out in museums to beat the heat.
At a small water fountain and splash pad near the Washington Monument, Harikrishna Gopalan and his family washed themselves off after a short, humid walk from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.
Gopalan, 42, who is from Dubai, said he was surprised by the sweltering heat in Washington but said it’s comparable to a “winter afternoon” in his home country.
He added, however, that Dubai seems much more prepared to deal with the heat. For example he said businesses and museums shift their hours to stay open until nightfall and bus stops are equipped with air conditioners.
“I wish the museum didn't close at 5:30,” he said, tugging on the neck of his sweat-drenched shirt. Nearby, his daughter took off her shoes and splashed in the water.
“I knew it was going to be hot – but not like this,” Gopalan added.
To avoid the worst of the heat, Samantha Larsen rearranged the itinerary of her family’s trip to Washington from Louisiana.
Instead of walking along the National Mall on Tuesday, they toured the monuments around 8 p.m. on Monday, though the heat index was still near 100 degrees when they reached their first stop.
Using her hand to shield her eyes from the setting sun, Larsen said she was glad for the schedule change so she could spend Tuesday inside the nearby museums.
“We are definitely staying inside all day tomorrow,” she said, squinting as she looked up at the closed Washington Monument.
The climate change connection to heat
Of all the weather impacts linked to human-caused climate change, extreme heat poses the biggest threat to human life – more dangerous than even floods or hurricanes.
Scientists have warned that such extremes are fast becoming the new normal – while also upending assumptions about which regions might be spared the worst of climate change.
"A lot of people ask the question, 'where is it safe to be?' And the answer is probably – no place," said Howard Frumkin, an expert in environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington. "We did not think the upper Midwest was going to be vulnerable to heat extremes."
The heat was also being felt in Britain, while the Arctic state of Alaska registered its first ever heat advisory last week. Last month, China saw its temperatures soar.
Humidity is adding to the misery
Oppressive humidity is accompanying the heat wave, according to Weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman.
This will particularly be the case in the mid-Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, but also into the Great Lakes and mid-Atlantic and Northeast. "That means the heat index, or feels-like temperature, will be in the triple digits on one or more days for some cities in the Midwest and Northeast," he said.
How long will the heat last?
The brutal late-June heat wave is causing sweltering folks to wonder when it will finally end.
It all depends on location, forecasters said, with some seeing relief as early as Tuesday, June 24, while others may not see any cooling temperatures until later in the week.
In some spots, the extreme heat is expected to last through much of this week, the weather service said June 23. The most significant heat impacts are anticipated across the Mid-Atlantic through Thursday, June 26 and the eastern Ohio Valley into Friday, June 27, "leading to several consecutive days of oppressive heat."
The longest duration of well above-average temperatures will be centered over the eastern Ohio Valley into Friday June 27, the weather service said.
Folks in the upper Midwest and northern New England will see some relief Tuesday, June 24, and Wednesday, June 25, while the Northeast will have to wait until at least Thursday, June 26.
According to AccuWeather, cooling thunderstorms will also offer brief reprieves from the heat, but not the humidity, in some areas this week. "In addition to gusty storms on the periphery of the heat dome from the Plains to New England, pop-up thunderstorms can bubble up and fizzle out in a random nature, especially across the South," said AccuWeather meteorologist Bill Deger.
Heat index forecast map
Watch for heat-related illnesses
This heat level can be dangerous to anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration, especially those engaging in lengthy outdoor activities, the weather service warned. Heat-related illnesses increase significantly during extreme heat. "Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke," the weather service said.
Staying hydrated and taking breaks away from the sun are helpful practices during the ongoing heat wave, Dr. Evan Kuhl, an emergency care physician at the University of Louisville's Jewish Hospital, said during a news conference June 23.
Certain groups are at a higher risk for heat-related illnesses, including the elderly and people with pre-existing health conditions, Kuhl said. With this in mind, it is a good idea to check on neighbors as the warm weather continues.
Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver, Paste BN; Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal; Joe Malinconico, Paterson Press; Reuters