The eastern United States is bracing for an unseasonably long heat wave, with a furnace-like weather pattern threatening to shatter record-high temperatures in major cities including New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
Forecasters predict the nation's capital will reach 93 degrees (33.9 Celsius) late Wednesday afternoon, with similar highs expected on Thursday.
This intense heat is highly unusual for April, not only due to its early arrival but also its anticipated duration, with near-record temperatures forecast to persist into the upcoming weekend.
While inland areas saw temperatures soar into the 80s, the Jersey Shore offered a slight reprieve. Hundreds took advantage of the pleasant spring day Wednesday, strolling along boardwalks where a gentle breeze kept temperatures approximately 15 degrees cooler by the water.
“After all the nasty cold and snow we had to deal with this winter, this is our payback,” New Yorker Javier Estrada, 19, said while taking a break from a beach football game in Seaside Park, New Jersey.
“I’m here with my buds, we’re having a blast and God is smiling on us,” he said. “What more can you ask for?”
The potentially dangerous heat comes as pieces of the roof of Yost Ice Arena, one of the nation's oldest college hockey arenas, were found scattered by a storm Wednesday in nearby yards in Ann Arbor, Michigan. That arena and another one in the same community — a city ice rink — were both damaged by the severe weather that struck Michigan overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning. Severe storms earlier this week also tore through Kansas, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
While it's not unprecedented to see high temperatures climb toward 90 degrees (32 Celsius) on an April day, the length of such an April heat wave is rarely seen, experts say.
“That’s borderline unprecedented as far as the duration of it this time of year,” said John Feerick, senior meteorologist at the forecasting firm AccuWeather.com.
Feerick said that starting Wednesday “we're going to have records challenged from basically Georgia all the way up through the New York City area and back toward the Ohio Valley.”
The National Weather Service is projecting a high temperature of around 86 degrees (30 Celsius) for Central Park in New York City on Wednesday. The record high for the date is 87, set in 1941.
Even hotter weather is expected in Philadelphia, where Wednesday's high is expected to be 92 degrees (33 C). Other likely hot spots include Washington, D.C., which could see a high of 94 (34 C); and Atlanta, where the high is projected to be 88 (31 C).
“It's really some very impressive heat for the middle of April, for sure,” Feerick said.
“The good thing about this is that the humidity is not summertime levels,” he added. That means it won't feel as hot as a sizzling July day.
The early-season heat can be more stressful on people's bodies since they haven't had a chance to acclimate.
Heat is the No. 1 weather-related killer in the U.S., the weather service warns. Infants and young children; older adults, people with chronic medical conditions and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to heat-related injuries and death.
A strong ridge of high pressure fueling moisture into the southern plains was responsible for bringing the unusual heat to the eastern U.S., the weather service said.
Though Wednesday is a day when many records could fall, the heat wave will continue through Friday in many areas, forecasters said.
“Widespread lower to even middle 90s are expected Friday across the lower elevations of the Carolinas, which could set additional daily records and perhaps come close to some monthly records,” the agency's Weather Prediction Center wrote in a memo.
The heat wave should finally be breaking down by Sunday as a strong cold front moves toward the Eastern Seaboard, and then it should be “pleasantly cooler” by Monday with the front heading out to sea, the weather service said.
In Seaside Park, Tom Larkin, 48, of Toms River, New Jersey, and his 3-year-old Labrador retriever, Vader, were among those strolling on the boardwalk.
“He just loves to see people and get petted, so what should be a 20-minute walk usually ends up taking about an hour and a half at least,” Larkin joked as Vader made friends with passersby.
“But on a day like this I don’t mind the extra time here," he said. "The people are great and the scenery is gorgeous, and it’s not too crowded yet, like it will get after Memorial Day.”
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