The last time Central Park saw 96 degrees in June was 1888, and New Yorkers appear to be headed for a sweltering summer: the record for May was broken last month and forecasters aren't promising anything less.
The staggering conditions come as an extremely dangerous heat wave is underway for the eastern half of the United States, with Tuesday expected to bring peak temperatures to an already fatigued population. The potent heat dome reaches its peak at the beginning of the week, bringing the hottest temperatures of the year so far – the hottest in years for some cities – and putting tens of millions at risk.
I'm a fan of all the evocative meteorological terms that have come into common use. "Heat dome" is doing well in this week's headlines, obviously; the "polar vortex" is but a distant memory in this hemisphere. A "bomb cylone" will surely come and rough up some beach houses come fall. Editors love this stuff. I was thinking of making up a few new ones for the summer. Solar Squeeze. Barometric Bloom. Thermal Siege.
The National Center or Healthy Housing has a list of cooling centers near you. Britain is also getting hit with a brutal heatwave, as reported by The Guardian.
Almost 600 people are expected to die early in the heatwave roasting England and Wales, a rapid analysis has found. The surge in deaths would not be occurring without human-caused global heating, the scientists said, with temperatures boosted by 2C-4C by the pollution from fossil fuels. Premature deaths will occur across the two countries but the highest mortality rates are expected in London and the West Midlands. Most of the deaths – 85% – will be people over 65 years old, who are more vulnerable to the extreme heat. People in inner-city homes are also at high risk.
Air conditioning in Britain is a bit like gun reform in America: most people know it's a good idea but any effort to get it done is snarled in a power problem of one kind or another.
Previously: Phoenix records 100 days straight of temperatures over 100F
