New York City entered a heat wave on Monday, as temperatures climbed for the third straight day, and air quality alerts were issued for most of the tri-state area, Storm Team 4 says.
The temperature hit 91 degrees shortly after 11 a.m. in Central Park, marking three days of 90 degree temperatures, the threshold for an official heat wave. With the heat and humidity combined, the heat index felt like it was near 100 degrees.
That makes it the first heat wave since 2013 in Central Park, although most parts of our area have already experienced a few heat waves this year. It was 93 in Central Park on Sunday and 92 there on Saturday. The temperature hit a high of 95 degrees in Central Park on Monday, a record high for this date. Newark also set a record high temperature for Aug. 17, with a high of 97 degrees.
The heat wave came as most of the metro was under an air quality alert, including all of New York City and Long Island, as well as the lower Hudson Valley. Morris, Somerset, Middlesex, Hunterdon, Monmouth and Ocean counties in New Jersey, along with Fairfield County in Connecticut, were also suffering from poor air quality. The air quality alert is in effect from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. for both Monday and Tuesday.
It could reach above 90 degrees again on Tuesday, when it will be sunny, hot and humid across the city and metro. It will likely turn breezy during the afternoon, especially along the coast, which should cool things down.
Con Edison says its grid of underground power cables and overheard wires is in good shape. But New Yorkers are still being asked to cut back on unnecessary appliances. That might be hard the next couple of days as temperatures and humidity continue. But some are okay with the heat, knowing that autumn is just around the corner.
"It's been a fantastic summer," said Kevin Trzaska, a contractor at a church renovation project. "And with the long winter we had, I don't look forward to the next winter that's coming."
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At the Astoria Park pool, where kids were enjoying the dog days of summer, parent Emil Pimentel said this season has been too cool.
"Not hot enough," he said. "I had to shovel a lot of snow this winter. I like it at 90 so we can get in a nice cool pool."
When reminded by NBC New York's Andrew Siff that Halloween is only two months away, Pimentel would have nothing of it.
"Don't start. Don't spoil it!" he said.
State parks officials said Monday there were "good" crowds at Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Park but the new reality is that most people don't go to the beach to seek relief from the heat. Instead, they stayed in air-conditioned environments or head to backyard pools.
It's actually been an unusual summer, with temperatures slightly above normal, but not much extreme heat. There have only been 10 days above 90 degrees this summer, compared to the normal amount of 15 days.
Temperatures will dip into the 80s by the middle of the week. It will be very warm and humid under partly cloudy skies on Wednesday, with a high of around 85. Thunderstorms are possible to the northwest of the city later on in the day.
Thursday and Friday will see temperatures in the mid 80s as humidity increases. There's a high chance of drenching storms the second half of Thursday and a strong chance of scattered thunderstorms Friday.
The storms will rumble on into Saturday morning, according to Storm Team 4. It will down into the low to mid 80s on Saturday and Sunny, making for a fairly pleasant weekend.
