New Yorkers should get ready to bake this weekend, when a late spring heat wave is expected to roll into the Big Apple.
A weather system that has been cooking the Midwest with record high temperatures may send the mercury shooting up past 90 degrees for three or four days straight in the city beginning Saturday, meteorologists said.
“If we get to 90 or greater, each of the next three days, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, it will make it an official heat wave,” Accuweather Senior Meteorologist Carl Babinski told The Post early on Saturday.
“And we can probably tag an extra day onto that if Tuesday is hot enough.”
Temperatures in the low 90s are predicted during the hot stretch, but there will be some relief near the beach, forecasters said.
“Places like Jamaica Queens and The Rockaways will probably be no higher than the upper 80s because there is a modest marine influence, enough of a marine influence to keep it from hitting 90,” Babinski said.
Moderate humidity is also expected to keep the nights less oppressive than they would be during the summer.
“We’re expecting overnight lows to be in the low 70s,” Babinski said.
“If this were a true mid-summer heat wave, usually you’d be dealing with a much more humid air mass, and there can be nights… where the temperature never gets below 80 in mid-summer because of the high humidity,” he added.
The National Weather Service has not issued any heat warnings or advisories for New York this weekend, but the air quality could deteriorate enough by Monday for forecasters to issue an alert, Babinski warned.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday urged at-risk New Yorkers to prepare for that possibility.
“Young children, seniors and those with respiratory conditions are particularly vulnerable to this type of weather,” Cuomo said in a statement.
“Check on neighbors and limit outdoor activity to ensure you and your loved ones remain safe and healthy through these extreme temperatures.”
New Yorkers who aren’t quite ready for the blast of heat can take comfort in knowing it could be worse for this time of year.
On June 5-7 in 1925, record temperatures of 99, 98 and 96 were recorded in Central Park, according to Babinski.