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Felt like 115-120 degrees in parts of East as records fall

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/ Source: msnbc.com staff and news service reports

The heat wave was one for the record books Friday in places across the East Coast, including New York City where it was 104 degrees at Central Park by early afternoon. Factor in the humidity, and it felt closer to 115.

The previous Central Park record for a July 22 was 101 degrees, set in 1957, nbcnewyork.com reported. The 104 was the second warmest of any day in Central Park history, the warmest being on July 9, 1936.

Several cities saw all-time highs:

  • Newark, N.J., got to 108, shattering the previous record of 105 from 2001.
  • Washington, D.C., at Dulles Airport saw 105 — a degree more than its previous record. Parts of the D.C. region saw heat indexes that made it feel like 120, nbcwashington.com reported.
  • Hartford, Conn., reached 103, a degree above the earlier record.
  • Bridgeport, Conn., tied its all-time record of 103.

Other cities that set heat records for a July 22 included: Baltimore, Md.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Atlantic City, N.J.; and Trenton, N.J.

Baltimore's Inner Harbor hit 107 degrees, with a heat index reaching 120.

Near Boston, which got to 103, Zoo New England staff were helping keep lions cool with "bloodsicles," giant ice pops flavored with blood from their lunches.

In Connecticut, train service was suspended on parts of Meto-North's New Haven line after a number of trains became disabled between Stamford and New Haven when sagging overhead wires became tangled in the mechanisms above the train cars.

Westport fire officials said they received dozens of 911 calls from people on the trains complaining about heat-related medical emergencies, including several pregnant women in distress.

Some power outages
Power provider Consolidated Edison reported about 9,200 customers in every NYC borough and Westchester County had lost power on Friday.

It also reduced the voltage, a so-called brownout, due to equipment failures in several neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn, affecting more than 121,000 customers.

The company said increased use of air conditioners could push power usage to an all-time record on Friday, although it and other power companies said they had enough electricity to meet demand.

The unrelenting heat prompted Con Ed to reduce voltage in some New York neighborhoods overnight as well.

The company had restored electric service to over 16,500 out of 24,000 customers affected since the heat wave began Thursday, it said.  

According to the Weather Channel, these searing temperatures in the Big Apple are rare: Central Park has only registered 57 days of triple-digit heat since 1870.

The National Weather Service on Friday issued excessive heat warnings and advisories for 132 million people in 29 states from the country's mid-section to the East Coast.

Higher-than-normal temperatures were likely to hover over the eastern half of the United States for "the next couple of weeks," the Weather Service said.

The heat has roasted communities across the Midwest for nearly a week. Already responsible for at least 22 deaths, the heat wave moved east on Thursday.

Cooling centers in Richmond, Va., and New York welcomed overheated residents and a truck labeled "Water Fountain on the Go" cruised Manhattan streets, offering to refill empty water bottles to keep residents hydrated.

Meteorologists also warned of poor air quality in numerous cities, with a code red air quality — designated as unhealthy for all people — forecast for Baltimore and Washington, D.C., according to the Weather Channel's Mark Avery.

"In this heat, it's not just about discomfort" but "survival," Latoya White, executive director of Health Leads, a program run out of Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., told The Washington Post.



Cities up and down the East Coast opened cooling centers and extended public pool hours to offer residents some relief.

"Today in the Midwest and the Northeast, it's not only record heat, but the humidity is unusually high as well. It's kind of a double-whammy," said AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Tom Kines.  

By the weekend, most of New England will cool off, but the Mid-Atlantic is expected to stay "hot and miserable" through early next week, Kines said.

In parts of the Midwest and in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas, the heat will also linger, he added.

In Chicago, where a five-day heat wave in 1995 killed hundreds, the city on Thursday endured a fifth consecutive day of abnormally high temperatures with the heat index hitting 110 in the early afternoon. At least seven deaths were blamed on the heat in the Chicago area this week, NBC Chicago reported.

Unhealthy smog levels triggered by the heat were reported in Chicago, where residents were asked by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to reduce polluting activities such as idling cars and mowing lawns.

Cattle 'starving'
In Oklahoma, where the heat has exacerbated a severe drought, Gov. Mary Fallin said she planned to ease commercial vehicle restrictions to speed delivery of hay and other feed to cattle whose grazing areas have been destroyed by the weather.

"We have cattle that are starving," Fallin told Reuters, "and we have certain areas of the state where we need to get the hay delivered to the farmers and the ranchers and the cattlemen."

By the weekend the heat was expected to cover nearly 50 percent of the country and impact nearly half the population, according to AccuWeather.com forecaster Mary Yoon.

"What makes this heat wave so impressive is the pure size and longevity," said Yoon.

"Do not take this threat lightly," the NWS warned in a statement, noting the extreme temperatures are particularly dangerous for the elderly and the very young.

"The length of this heat wave will pose a very real and dangerous health risk to these at-risk groups and those that do not have access to air conditioning," the statement said.