Dangerous heat wave grips Midwest, South and East Coast

Record-breaking heat spread across the Midwest, South and East Coast, putting more than 160 million people under heat alerts and hitting cities such as Minneapolis and Chicago first. The National Weather Service forecast the system moving eastward with little overnight relief, a combination that made the heat more dangerous for people without air conditioning and for those who had to work outside.

Chicago Public Schools held all summer programming, including athletic summer programming, indoors from Monday, June 29, through Wednesday, July 1, and the city activated cooling centers at community service centers, senior centers, libraries, city colleges, police stations and satellite senior centers. Chicago’s cooling network included six community service center sites and nearly 300 additional cooling facilities.

The worst of the heat was expected to stretch from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast. Heat indices were forecast to reach 105 in Chicago, 111 in Detroit, 110 in Louisville, 106 in Little Rock and 105 in Houston on Tuesday, then 108 in Detroit, 102 in New York City, 104 in Philadelphia and Washington, and 105 in Houston on Wednesday. By Thursday, the heat index was forecast to reach 107 in New York City, 111 in Philadelphia and 110 in Washington, while the NWS office in Chicago forecast afternoon heat indices there to stay in the 100 to 110 degree range through Thursday.

Very warm overnight lows meant bodies had less chance to recover, and the heat index, which factors humidity into how hot conditions feel, added pressure on workers, hospitals, transit systems and the electric grid as demand for cooling climbed. Older adults, young children and people with chronic medical conditions were at high risk for heat-related illness and death, and more than 700 people die from extreme heat every year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.