NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- New York City and the eastern US are set to swelter through the hottest day of the year so far, as a heat wave drives up power prices and strains electric grids.
About 142.7 million people from Kansas to Maine are under extreme heat warnings and 152 warm weather records may be threatened, tied or broken in the eastern half of the US, the Weather Prediction Center said. Through the Fourth of July US holiday, 411 daily records for high temperatures or warm overnight lows are likely to be challenged.
New York’s Central Park is forecast to reach 100F (38C), which would tie a record for the date set in 1966, while Washington’s Reagan National Airport is expected to reach a new high of 103F and Trenton, New Jersey, may see 104F, said David Roth, a senior branch forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center. The overnight low at LaGuardia may be 80F.
“This is the day when the most records are possible,” Roth said.
Caribou, Maine, is even set to reach 93F, which would break the record for the date first set in 1914, according to the National Weather Service.
When humidity is factored in, temperatures will feel closer to 105F to 115F across New York City and throughout the Northeast, the National Weather Service said. This will boost energy demand and has already seen a spike in power prices in the days leading up to the heart of the heat wave.
“This heat wave is only just beginning,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in an X-post. “Please stay prepared and informed as these dangerously high temperatures continue.”
High heat can buckle highways, swell railroad tracks and make it harder for airplanes to take off. Delta Airlines is waiving change fees for journeys through New York’s LaGuardia Airport this week because of hot weather and operational constraints, according to a service notice posted Wednesday.
New Jersey Transit and Amtrak have warned passengers that trains may be delayed because of the heat.
PJM Interconnection LLC expects demand to surge Thursday as heat and humidity drive up cooling demand throughout the East. The system’s previous record has stood since 2006. Con Edison has asked New York City residents to conserve energy while repair and maintenance is done to equipment.
The high temperatures are also reaching Toronto, North America’s fourth most-populous city, where orange and yellow heat warnings have been posted across parts of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes, Environment and Climate Change Canada said. In a World Cup match, Portugal is set to take on Croatia at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time in Toronto Thursday.
While the high temperatures have spread across the Midwest as well, crops are probably just experiencing minor stress because there is plenty of moisture in the region. Conditions should improve after Thursday and it’s “way too early to cause any significant problems,” said Donald Keeney, a meteorologist with Vaisala.
Across the eastern US, Thursday and Friday will be the worst of the heat and then the high-pressure ridge, or heat dome, will start to break down.
By next week, temperatures across most of the eastern US will return to average levels, Roth said.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com.
