Heat index in Northeast tops 100; girl dies in hot car

NEW YORK — Tens of millions of people in the northeastern United States sweated in dangerously high heat Wednesday, with temperatures that felt like more than 100 degrees and prompted emergency measures including school closures and extra breaks for star players wilting at the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

Authorities on Long Island said heat appeared to be a factor in Tuesday’s death of an 11-year-old girl found in a vehicle with the windows closed. The heat index was past 100.

In Massachusetts, nearly two dozen school districts canceled classes or sent children home early Wednesday in response to heat that reached 98 degrees, breaking the Aug. 29, 1953, record of 96. With the added high humidity, it felt like 107 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

“Our schools were simply not designed for the sustained heat and humidity we are experiencing since many do not have air conditioning or sufficient cooling systems,” said Mike Morris, superintendent of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District, in a message to parents.

School districts in Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Virginia also had early dismissals Tuesday and Wednesday. Philadelphia already announced an early dismissal for today.

At Bath Iron Works in Maine, the scorching temperatures didn’t keep shipyard workers from toiling away inside a 610-foot destroyer, the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson, that’s under construction.

With the steel soaking up the heat and no air conditioning, temperatures climbed inside. “It’s hot, sweaty, sticky, damp,” said welder Neal Larsen. He said the temperature routinely gets above 100 inside on hot days.