Friday, 19 July 2013

Blame Canada: Cooler winds from north to end heat wave, trigger 'severe' storms

Nearly every state in the U.S. is forecasted to experience temperatures in the 90s or above, as doctors issue warnings about heat stroke. NBC's Peter Alexander reports and TODAY's Al Roker gives the forecast.

By Erin McClam and Henry Austin, NBC News

Relief is on the way from the brutal heat wave that has punished the Northeast and Midwest all week, but it?ll come at a price ? severe thunderstorms and perhaps tornadoes.

The Midwest will be first to get a break. A dip in the jet stream will clear the way for a cold front. But it will also provide the energy for severe storms, beginning Thursday night in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The same rough weather is possible Friday in Chicago, Detroit and maybe Cleveland and Indianapolis. Damaging wind, large hail and tornadoes are all possible, said Kevin Roth, lead meteorologist for The Weather Channel.

Most of the Northeast is out of luck until Saturday, though. New York was expected to hit 97 degrees on Thursday and 98 on Friday before daytime temperatures gradually drop over the weekend.

Full heat wave coverage from weather.com

It?s hot enough in New York that at least one sidewalk vendor had to turn off his grill and coffee machine.

?It was just too hot. I couldn?t breathe,? Ahmad Qayumi told The Associated Press as he turned away a customer who wanted a hamburger. ?Just cold drinks.?

Washington gets relief ? or what passes for it ? on Saturday. The forecast high is 91 degrees, down from 95 on Thursday and 97 on Friday. Philadelphia can expect a dip to 90 degrees on Saturday after a couple of days in the mid-90s.

The heat wave, the longest and worst of the summer, has smothered most of the country. Forty-seven of the 50 states were expected to top 90 degrees on Thursday, forecasters said.

Lucas Jackson / Reuters

A young boy splashes another with water while playing in New York on Wednesday.

A dome of high pressure parked itself over the Ohio Valley and the Northeast earlier this week and hasn?t let up. Cities in the northern half of the country have been warmer than spots in the Southwest.

Humidity has made it worse, pushing the heat index above 100 in many places.

It was hot enough that pavement buckled in some states, and 300 people in Indianapolis were evacuated from a living center for seniors after a power outage knocked out the air conditioning.

Amtrak said the heat wave was to blame for wire problems that disrupted service in the Northeast on Wednesday. Workers completed repairs Wednesday night.

Illinois opened cooling centers, and the Environmental Protection Agency said the heat was contributing to air pollution in New England.

There was good news in Prince George?s County, Md., where 100,000 people were told that they might be without water through the weekend. Crews now expect to fix their repairs without turning off the tap.

Still, for most of the country, at least one more day of suffocating heat was on the way Thursday. At the World Trade Center construction site in New York, workers draped towels around their necks to catch the sweat.

?We?re drinking a lot of water, down under by the tracks, in and out of the sun all day ? very hot,? Elizabeth Fontanez, a carpenter who was working 20 pounds of equipment strapped to her waist, told the AP.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/2ed4f19b/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A70C180C1953640A0A0Eblame0Ecanada0Ecooler0Ewinds0Efrom0Enorth0Eto0Eend0Eheat0Ewave0Etrigger0Esevere0Estorms0Dlite/story01.htm

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