ABC News
(NEW YORK) — After extreme temperatures hit the Midwest earlier this week, the hottest weather of the season is spreading across the eastern United States, with the focus on northeastern cities on Wednesday.
The actual temperature in Chicago reached 99 degrees on Tuesday, beating the city’s daily record of 97 degrees. The heat index – the perceived temperature with humidity – rose to a sweltering 115 degrees in Chicago on Tuesday.
Heat warnings are in effect from St. Louis, Missouri, to New York City on Wednesday. An extreme heat warning has been issued for Philadelphia, where the heat index could reach 40 degrees.
The heat index is expected to rise to 106 degrees in Baltimore, Maryland, 103 degrees in Washington, DC and 97 degrees in New York City on Wednesday.
The last major tennis tournament of the year, the US Open, currently taking place in New York City, has “extreme weather guidelines” in place, meaning stadium roofs are partially closed and there are extended breaks for players.
More than a dozen cities could break their highest temperature records yet, including Washington, DC, when temperatures reach 38 degrees.
Extreme temperatures will end in the Northeast on Thursday, but will persist in the Ohio Valley and Tennessee Valley through Friday.
On Thursday, the heat index is expected to rise to 104 degrees in Nashville, Tennessee and Columbia, South Carolina, 102 degrees in Raleigh, North Carolina and Louisville, Kentucky, and 105 degrees in Greenville, Mississippi.
Record highs are possible in cities like Nashville and Louisville on Thursday.
Hundreds of people die each year in the United States due to extreme heat, according to CDC WONDER, an online database, and scientists warn that the actual number of heat-related deaths is likely higher.
According to JAMA, a peer-reviewed medical journal of the American Medical Association, there were more heat-related deaths in the United States last year than ever before.
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