East Coast stews in lingering heat wave
Cold front brings lower temperatures to Midwest, ushers in thunderstorms
BOSTON — The East Coast on Sunday sweated through another day of extreme heat and humidity, while a cold front promised lower temperatures — but also severe storms — in the central United States.
New York Fire Department officials said the soaring temperatures may have contributed to a Queens fire that killed a mother and her 7-year-old daughter. The woman’s two teenage sons were critically injured.
“They always complained about how hot their house was,” said Tiffany Elahie, 14, a friend of the children who lives a few doors away.
Police said Silvia Umana, 51, lived in the home with her daughter, Lupe Perez, and two sons, whom neighbors identified as Gilbert, 19, and Gabriel, 15. The younger boy escaped out a second-story window and was rescued by firefighters.
Fire Department officials said they were investigating whether the fire was linked to the family’s air conditioner, which neighbors said was located on the first floor.
The New York Police Department, facing power failures and stifling heat, implored residents to take it easy.
“Sunday has been can
celed,” the Police Department jokingly tweeted. “Stay indoors, nothing to see here. Really, we got this.”
More than 50,000 customers were without power in New York City and neighboring Westchester, one week after a Manhattan blackout. Utility Consolidated Edison estimated that residents of Queens could be without power until this afternoon.
By Sunday night, Consolidated Edison and another utility, Public Service Energy Group Long Island, were asking customers across neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens to turn off nonessential appliances to conserve power. Consolidated Edison said it had reduced voltage by 8% in affected areas to protect equipment and maintain service as repairs were made.
Alfonso Quiroz, a spokesman for Consolidated Edison, noted that the heat wave was in its third day on Sunday, “so the system is really baking at this point.”
Quiroz said Consolidated Edison had hit “record high-power demand” for a weekend.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that the “accumulated heat and strain from the past few days has built up in the electrical equipment.”
The city also directed office buildings to set thermostats no lower than 78 degrees through Sunday to reduce strain on its electrical grid.
The heat also forced the cancellation of Saturday plans in the city. Times Square was scheduled to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1969 moon landing, and an outdoor festival had been planned featuring soccer star Megan Rapinoe and musician John Legend.
EXTREME HEAT
From the Carolinas to Maine, daytime highs reached the upper 90s Sunday. Coupled with high humidity, temperatures felt as high as 110 degrees in places.
“There’s no point being out,” Washington, D.C., bus driver Ramieka Darby said while taking a quick break amid temperatures of nearly 100 degrees.
In Boston, Sunday’s heat prompted the cancellation of the annual Jimmy Fund 5K cancer benefit race, as well as a popular Sunday market in the city’s South End. City officials also once again opened up city pools free to residents as the temperature topped 90 degrees for the third-consecutive day.
In nearby Braintree, Mass., police requested that anyone thinking of committing a crime wait until today, when it cools down.
“Conducting criminal activity, in this extreme heat is next level henchmen status, and also very dangerous,” the Braintree Police Department said in a now-viral Facebook post.
In Pennsylvania, nine firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion and six were transported to a hospital for treatment while fighting a house fire in sweltering conditions Saturday. Several hundred people were also evacuated from a retirement community Saturday because of a power failure that may have been heat-related.
In New Hampshire, rescue crews helped a 29-year-old hiker late Saturday after he was overcome by the heat in the White Mountain National Forest.
In New Jersey, the Oceanic Bridge over the Navesink River was closed Saturday evening after it got stuck open. Monmouth County officials say heat caused expansion of the metal encasing the drawbridge, which is a popular route for residents and beachgoers.
The heat even prompted Delaware officials to close Fort Delaware State Park, which served as a Union prison camp during the Civil War. Temperatures were too high for costumed interpreters who wear wool garb to work safely over the weekend, officials said.
The National Weather Service reported high temperatures for July 20 were recorded Saturday at its weather stations in Atlantic City, N.J.; New York City; Westfield, Mass.; Manchester, N.H., and Wallops Island, Va.
And in many parts of the country, it wasn’t expected to get much better Sunday evening and into this morning. Temperatures were expected to remain at or above the high 70s overnight.
STORMS ROLL IN
The central part of the country, meanwhile, enjoyed some relief as a cold front moved steadily southward and eastward across the country, bringing down the temperatures.
But the cooler weather settling in today and Tuesday is also bringing severe storms packed with powerful winds and heavy rains that have already caused damage in the Midwest. The National Weather Service warns flash flooding might be possible in some areas.
Parts of the Midwest are dealing with the effects of damaging winds and rain that arrived with the cold front that’s breaking up the heat wave.
In Wisconsin, utility crews restored power to more than 48,000 customers in the eastern part of the state. But around 56,000 customers were still without power Sunday after more than 700 wires, 50 power poles and at least 600 trees or branches were taken down in thunderstorms, officials said.
In Michigan, power might not be restored for everyone until Tuesday, utility officials said.
Utility companies DTE Energy and Consumers Energy said roughly 500,000 customers are still without power after thousands of power lines were downed in a storm that was the worst to hit the region since 2017.
The heat also relented early Sunday in the northern reaches of New England. A Canadian cold front brought thunderstorms Saturday evening that dropped temperatures across northern Vermont and upstate New York. A heat advisory remained in effect for southern sections of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine for much of the day, however.