Residents of New York City and northeast New Jersey who venture outdoors on Friday can expect to be greeted by the same blast-furnace feeling they confronted on Thursday, with the National Weather Service’s excessive heat warning for the area in effect until 9 p.m.
Forecasts called for temperatures in the region covered by the warning to rise into the low to mid 90s Fahrenheit for a second straight day, and for the heat index to climb as high as 110, Dominic Ramunni, a meteorologist at the Weather Service’s New York City office, said.
The elevated heat index, pushed up by extreme humidity, will again “significantly increase the potential for heat-related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities” in the affected area, the Weather Service warned.
Other parts of the New York City metropolitan region — including Long Island, southern Connecticut, the lower Hudson Valley and northwestern New Jersey — remained under a Weather Service heat advisory through Saturday evening.
A heat advisory indicates potentially dangerous conditions for older and other vulnerable people; an excessive heat warning indicates anyone may be at risk.
The extreme heat now being felt in New York and elsewhere in the Northeast has baked other parts of the United States for more than a month. Its arrival in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states could expose as many as 118 million Americans, more than a third of the country’s population, to dangerously high levels of heat on Friday.
Although New Yorkers are no strangers to sweltering in summertime, the current hot spell is somewhat unusual: The Weather Service last issued an excessive heat warning for the area in August 2021, Mr. Ramunni said. The heat and humidity were expected to remain oppressive through Saturday evening, when thunderstorms are likely to move through.
Newark, N.J., was the hottest spot in the area on Thursday, with the temperature reaching 96 degrees and the heat index hitting 107 just before 4 p.m., Mr. Ramunni said. Central Park was a bit cooler, with the temperature peaking at 92 degrees and the heat index hitting 99.
As the hot spell persists, the guidance Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials offered residents on Thursday for seeking relief will remain relevant: find public swimming pools, drinking fountains, splash pads and shady parks. The city’s pools, which open at 11 a.m., will stay open for an extra hour, until 8 p.m., on Friday and Saturday.
People without access to air-conditioning at home or who lose power were urged to go to one of the dozens of cooling centers the city has set up across the five boroughs.
“Heat kills more New Yorkers every year than any other kind of extreme weather event,” Mr. Adams said, underscoring the importance of finding ways to keep cool.
Weeks of scorching temperatures across North America, Europe, Asia and other parts of the world have put July on track to be Earth’s warmest month on record, the European Union climate monitor said on Thursday. Last month, the planet experienced its hottest June since records began in 1850, and July 6 was its hottest day.