Tens of millions of people across the midwest and east braced on Sunday for another sweltering day of dangerously hot temperatures as a rare June heatwave continued to grip parts of the US.
Most of the north-eastern quadrant of the country from Minnesota to Maine was under some type of heat advisory on Sunday. So were parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi.
The temperature had already reached 80F (26.6C) in the Chicago area by 7.30am on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasts called for heat indices of between 100 and 105F.
The heat index in Pittsburgh was expected to top 105F. The temperature in Columbus, Ohio, was 77F at 8.30am. Highs there were expected to reach 97F with a heat index around 104F.
Forecasts called for a heat index of 100F in Philadelphia on Sunday, with a 108F heat index on Monday.
The city’s public health department declared a heat emergency starting at noon on Sunday and ending on Wednesday evening. Officials directed residents to air-conditioned libraries, community centers and other locations, and set up a “heat line” staffed by medical professionals to discuss conditions and illnesses made worse by the heat. At Lincoln Financial Field, officials said each fan attending Sunday’s Fifa World Cup match would be allowed to bring in one 20oz plastic bottle of water.
Forecasters warned the heat index in Cromwell, Connecticut, would reach 105F on Sunday, which could make life brutal for golfers Tommy Fleetwood and Keegan Bradley as they compete during the final round of the Travelers Championship.
Elly De La Cruz, a Cincinnati Reds shortstop playing against the Cardinals in St Louis, and Trent Thornton, a Seattle Mariners reliever facing the Cubs in Chicago, got sick on Saturday while playing in the extreme heat.
Sunday marked the second straight day of extreme heat across the midwest and east coast. Heat indices on Saturday hit 103F in Chicago and 101F in Madison, Wisconsin, turning that city’s annual naked bike ride into a sticky and sweaty affair.
Lynn Watkins, 53, is the director of Sacred Hearts daycare in Sun Prairie, a Madison suburb. She said that she tried to sit outside on Saturday to grill but it was so hot she had to go inside. She plans to cancel all outdoor activities at the daycare on Monday with highs around 93F forecast.
“I can’t stand being outside when it’s like this,” she said. “I just want to sit in my air conditioning.”
Minneapolis baked under a heat index of 106F. The actual temperature was 96F, which broke the previous record for the date of 95F set in 1910, according to the weather service.
The heat is expected to persist into the coming week, with the hottest temperatures shifting eastward. New York City is expected to see highs around 95F on Monday and Tuesday. Boston is on track for highs approaching 100F on Tuesday, and temperatures in Washington DC were expected to hit 100F on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Meteorologists say a phenomenon known as a heat dome, a large area of high pressure in the upper atmosphere that traps heat and humidity, is responsible for the extreme temperatures.
Mark Gehring, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sullivan, Wisconsin, said this level of heat is not uncommon during the summer months in the US, although it usually takes hold in mid-July or early August. The most unusual facet of this heatwave is the sheer amount of territory sweltering under it, he said.
“It’s basically everywhere east of the Rockies,” he said, referring to the Rocky Mountains. “That is unusual, to have this massive area of high dewpoints and heat.”
