BOSTON (AP) — A sweltering heat wave spread from the Midwest to New England on Wednesday, leaving millions of people sweltering over the Juneteenth holiday, including in places like northern Maine where they rarely experience such conditions so early in the year .
The town of Caribou, Maine, just 10 miles from the Canadian border, saw a record 103 degrees (39.4 C) on the heat index, which combines heat and humidity. The region was under a heat advisory until Wednesday evening and temperatures in Caribou were hotter than in Miami: 94 degrees (34.4 C) compared to 89 (31.6 C), according to the National Weather Service.
Several residents said they were used to temperatures in the 70s and 80s in June and rarely this humid.
“I may have seen this before when it was so hot in June,” said Hannah Embelton, 22, a waitress at an ice cream shop in Caribou, adding that customers stayed away from the soft-serve options because they melt. fast.
“Normally we never get the brunt of all this heat and humidity because we are so far north. How hot it is is all everyone talks about,” she added.
At Moose River Campground, about 13 miles from the border, owner Lisa Hall was repairing a cabin tap amid the sweltering temperatures. She said such conditions become more common in mid-July or early August.
“I’m sweating like crazy and it’s way too hot,” she said.
Dangerous temperatures were expected to peak in the eastern Great Lakes and New England on Wednesday and Thursday, and in the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic on Friday and Saturday, the National Weather Service said. Heat index values were expected to reach 100 to 105 degrees (37.7 C to 40.5 C) in many locations.
“We’re seeing an upper-level high-pressure ridge, bringing all this heat from the southern United States,” said Kyle Pederson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boston.
“That just keeps temperatures in the mid-90s and the heat index over 100. It will just make it feel warmer than outside,” he said. “You’ll really feel that dampness and humidity. feel the heat faster.
Conditions were expected to scale back some Juneteenth activities and limit emergency response options. Cities that opened cooling centers this week said Wednesday’s holiday meant some public libraries, senior centers and swimming pools where residents could beat the heat would be closed.
That affected services in Indianapolis, where Horizon House, a day shelter for the homeless, was faced with closed cooling centers and food banks. The center served about 200 people a day this week, but during the Juneteenth festival the number jumped to 300 for lunch. About 450 bottles of water were also distributed.
“Today was nothing short of swampy,” said Courtney Kay Meyers, director of development and communications. “We’re really struggling to keep up with the water and the demand for water.”
Officials have urged people to limit outdoor activities where possible and to contact family members and neighbors who may be vulnerable to the heat.
In New York, state parks will have free admission Wednesday and Thursday, and select state pools and beaches will open early for swimming, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
New York City beaches were open, but public pools there were closed until next week. The city has a list of hundreds of air-conditioned locations that are free and open to the public. Public libraries, which have been used as cooling centers during other heat waves, were closed Wednesday for the June federal holiday.
Anne-Laure Bonhomme, a 43-year-old health coach, visited locations in New York with her family. “The humidity is pretty insane,” she said.
People and even zoo animals were forced to find ways to thwart the muggy weather.
High humidity lingered over Indianapolis on Wednesday, making the deceptively cloudy day warm and unpleasant. Parks and trails were sparsely populated despite the holidays.
The Bennett family considered taking their seven-year-old and four-month-old to the pool or splash pad on their day off, but decided it would still be too hot for the kids. Instead, Kayla and Sarah drove from Muncie to the Indiana State Museum in downtown Indianapolis to visit the indoor air conditioning exhibits.
“We decided to do something inside,” Kayla said.
A recent study found that climate change is causing heat waves to move more slowly and affect more people for longer periods of time. Last year, the US experienced the largest number of heat waves – abnormally warm weather lasting more than two days – since 1936.
Chicago broke a 1957 temperature record on Monday with a high of 97 degrees (36.1 C). A cold front is expected to bring relief to areas near Lake Michigan on Thursday and Friday, the National Weather Service in Chicago said.
In California, wildfires broke out east of San Francisco in the state’s historic Gold Country region and in the mountains of northern Los Angeles County after a quiet start to the fire season. Wildfires in southern New Mexico on Tuesday damaged 500 buildings in a mountain town of 7,000 that was evacuated with little time to spare.
Meanwhile, a new load of tropical moisture brought an increasing threat of heavy rains and flash flooding to the central Gulf Coast. This year’s hurricane season is predicted to be one of the most active in recent memory.
