Temperatures Inch Near 100 Wednesday

The heat returned in full force Wednesday after a short break from soaring temperatures.

The day was sunny and very hot, with highs in the upper 90s. The temperature inched toward Charlotte’s record high for the date, which is 100 degrees.

However, the humidity wasn’t high Wednesday, providing some respite in a summer that has been scorching thus far.

The North Carolina Air Quality Forecast Center gave the Charlotte area a Code Orange rating Wednesday, meaning it’s unhealthy for sensitive groups, including the very young, very old and people with respiratory problems like asthma or emphysema.

For more information on air quality ratings, click here.

The heat is forecast to continue through Friday, meteorologist Keith Monday said. The chance for rain and cooler temperatures improves as the weekend approaches, but highs on Saturday and Sunday drop to around 90 degrees.

The heat is taking its toll indoors and out, causing power bills to skyrocket. To keep your house cool without spending a fortune, meteorologist John Ahrens recommends closing curtains to block extra sunlight and monitoring vents. Since warm air rises and cool air sinks, closing off vents in downstairs rooms and leaving vents in upstairs rooms open can help keep the upper rooms cooler without using extra power.

Ahrens said to also monitor humidity in your house and avoid tasks like cooking or doing laundry during the hottest hours of the day. That can translate into keeping the thermostat set a few degrees higher, which can save money in the long run.

For more information on energy efficiency:

Duke Energy

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Five-Day Forecast

Wednesday: Sunny and very hot with highs in the upper 90s.

Thursday: We'll pick up a few more clouds with slightly higher humidity. However, the heat stays strong in the upper 90s.

Friday: A small hint at storms. Highs will still reach the mid 90s before there's even a chance at rain.

Saturday: Better rain opportunities emerge and it should turn out to be a cooler afternoon. Highs still close to 90 degrees.

Sunday: Partly cloudy and cooler. Highs around 90 degrees.

Heat Hits Northeastern Cities

Charlotte is one of a band of cities stretching to Philadelphia and Baltimore that has been hit with heat. Cities farther north, including New York, were predicted to get into the high 90s Wednesday, though higher humidity was expected to make it feel hotter.

Scattered power outages have affected customers up and down the coast and usage approached record levels. In the Washington, D.C., area, nearly 1,000 customers were without power Wednesday, while New Jersey's largest utility, Public Service Electric & Gas, reported about 6,500 customers without electricity. Consolidated Edison in New York said it was working to restore power to about 6,300 customers, down from outages to 18,700 customers Tuesday.

The heat also hampered train travel, forced nursing homes with power problems to evacuate and buckled a highway ramp north of Albany. On New York's Long Island, the Red Cross said local merchants would help to distribute free bottled water to day laborers.

Transportation officials cut the speed of commuter trains in suburban Washington, D.C., and New York when the tracks got too hot. Extreme heat can cause welded rails to bend under pressure. Some train service to New Jersey was canceled.

Rail riders in New Jersey and Maryland were advised to expect delays again Wednesday. Philadelphia's transit system said it was slowing trains to reduce the amount of electricity needed to run them.

In Park Ridge, N.J., police evacuated a nursing home and rehabilitation center after an electrical line burned out Tuesday evening. Patients from the nursing home and rehabilitation center were taken to hospitals and other nursing homes until power was restored Wednesday morning.

In Baltimore, a resident of the 190-bed Ravenwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center called 911 on Tuesday to complain of stifling temperatures, and paramedics discovered the air conditioning hadn't worked since Friday. Some residents gathered in an air-conditioned multipurpose room, but paramedics moved 40 of them elsewhere.

Tuesday's hot weather broke records for the day in New York, where it hit 103, and in Philadelphia, where it reached 102.

Those cities and other dense, built-up areas are getting hit with the heat in a way their counterparts in suburbs and rural areas aren't. Cities absorb more solar energy during the day and are slower to release it at night.