New York City is bracing for scorching temperatures heading into the first official week of summer, with temperatures expected to climb starting Tuesday and reaching “feels like” temperatures of around 100 degrees on Thursday and Friday.
The National Weather Service is expected to issue a heat advisory for the five boroughs in effect from Thursday to Friday, with the city activating its heat emergency plan Monday morning. Cooling centers aross the city will open Tuesday.
The hottest temperatures will hover around the high 80s to around 90 Tuesday, with the heat index, or “feels like” temperatures, in the lower 90s, according to David Stark, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Wednesday will be slightly warmer, with highs from 89 to 92 degrees and a heat index in the lower 90s.
The city will really heat up on Thursday when temperatures are expected to reach up to 94 degrees and the heat index reaching 100.
Friday will see highs in the upper 90s and a heat index of around 100 degrees. There’s a chance Friday could bring record-breaking heat — if temperatures soar past the 1988 record of 97 degrees.
Temperatures will begin to tick downward on Saturday, which is expected to see heat in the lower 90s and by Sunday, the heat is expected to break a bit, with the air temperature back in the 80s.
The heat wave, the season’s first, comes earlier in the year than usual — with peak summer heat usually coming in late July or August.
“We are about a month early,” Stark said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to see another one, but it is sort of prepping us for what what potentially could come.”
Mayor Adams, accompanied by extreme weather czar Camille Joseph Varlack and other officials, urged city dwellers to check in on neighbors and told seniors and those with young children and pets to take extra precautions, stay in air conditioning and limit exposure to the hot sun.
Adams also cautioned that air quality could take a dive this week, in addition to the heat.
“This is extremely hot for June, and New Yorkers should not underestimate the heat,” Mayor Adams warned in a press conference on the heat on Monday. “With climate change leading to more frequent and intense heat, summers are different than before, so we should expect and be prepared for the hot weather that is coming.”
Calling heat “ the most dangerous weather phenomenon we have in New York City,” Commissioner NYC Emergency Management Zach Iscol said that more than 350 New Yorkers a year on average die because of heat.
It will be hot throughout each day of the heat wave, with peak intensity forecasted to happen between noon and 8 p.m. each day — and temps won’t fall much at night, dipping to the 70s, Iscol said.
The city has expanded a network of cooling sites with air conditioning across the city and distributed “outdoor cool kits” to be handed out to outdoor workers, Adams said.
Beaches are open for the season, but public pools are not yet.
New Yorkers should limit their electricity consumption — avoiding running a load of laundry or blasting the air conditioning at max cool all day — in order to curb the risk of blackouts, officials advised.
