Heat WaveCities Along the East Coast Bear the Worst Conditions

In Trenton, N.J., the temperature reached 98 degrees on Sunday. The heat wave prompted officials in some parts of the state, including Pennsville Township, Moorestown, Vineland, Ridgewood, Denville and Butler to announce mandatory or optional water restrictions, asking residents to refrain from washing their cars or watering their lawns.

But the end of the heat wave that gripped much of the United States over the past week is in sight. The Weather Service predicts that the heat wavewill begin to subside early this week.

Thunderstorms were forecast for parts of the Mid-Atlantic on Sunday afternoon.

“Prolonged periods of heat around here usually end with a bang and that is what will happen later today,” the service’s office serving the Philadelphia area posted on X on Sunday morning.

Relief has begun to arrive in other parts of the country that were hit hard last week, signaling a dip in the heat that’s still gripping the Mid-Atlantic. In New England, record-breaking temperatures have already receded, and Sunday brought lower temperatures to the Ohio Valley and the Midwest.

In Detroit, the heat index fell from a high of 95 degrees on Saturday to 87 degrees by midday Sunday, a more normal level for this time of year. In Cleveland, the heat index fell from a high of 97 degrees on Saturday to 83. And in Chicago, the heat index declined from a Saturday high of 96 degrees to 83 degrees on Sunday.

The health consequences of this heat wave are starting to become clear. Heat-related emergency room visits spiked in regions of the United States that were hit hardest by the heat wave last week, according to a tracker by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Erin Nolan and Mark Bonamo contributed reporting.

But the heat hasn’t stopped many residents from partaking in summer weekend activities.

On Saturday afternoon, Dontrell Knighten, 30, braved scorching temperatures to practice drills at a basketball court at the Edgewood Recreation Center in northeast Washington. Sweat trickled off his forehead as heat radiated from the court, but Mr. Knighten kept practicing shots.

“You get used to the heat,” said Mr. Knighten, an I.T. professional at Howard University. He added, “Regardless of the temperature, you’ve got to go outside and get some fresh air every day.”

In Baltimore, tens of thousands of people have been celebrating African American heritage at the AFRAM Music Festival this weekend, undeterred by the stifling conditions. Festival organizers set up extra measures including cooling stations, emergency water distribution and booths offering sunscreen. They expect up to 300,000 visitors over the weekend.

And on Sunday morning, as temperatures crept up again, about 150 people, including Mayor Brandon Scott, jumped into the city’s Inner Harbor during an event celebrating the harbor’s improved water quality.

The extreme heat is expected to subside soon. Temperatures in the area are forecast to fall to highs of 90 degrees by Monday, with winds coming in from the northwest that should feel “refreshing,” according to the National Weather Service.

Adam Bednar and Donna M. Owens contributed reporting.

Officials in numerous communities urged residents — especially older people, homeless people and those with chronic health conditions — to prevent heat-related illness by staying hydrated, using air-conditioning, limiting strenuous physical activity and wearing loose, light-colored clothing. Pet owners should also monitor their animals for signs of overheating, such as excessive panting, drooling and lethargy, officials said.

The state’s Department of Environmental Protection encouraged New Jerseyans to take advantage of the Chill Out NJ tool, an online map of public places where people can find air-conditioning, pools, splash pads, beaches or shady parks.

The lengthy heat wave also prompted officials in some places, including Pennsville Township, Moorestown and Vineland in South Jersey, and Ridgewood, Denville and Butler in North Jersey, to announce mandatory or optional water restrictions, asking residents to refrain from washing their cars or watering their lawns. And at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, a National Women’s Soccer League game between Gotham F.C. and the Washington Spirit on Sunday was moved to 6 p.m. from 1:30 p.m. because of the heat.

In Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood, where the heat index rose over 100 degrees, heat visibly radiated from the surface of Ferry Street as people packed into Sihana Cafe, where they took advantage of air-conditioning and free water.

“It’s ridiculously hot,” said Monica Dos Santos, 24, a cafe employee, as she served yet another iced coffee. “People should stay inside and stay cool, unless they can make it to the beach. And if you can get to the beach, you should live on it.”

In Jersey City, Genevieve Friedman, who had traveled from Brooklyn to meet a friend for brunch in the Paulus Hook neighborhood, said she was making every effort to beat the heat.

“I’m at an all-time high in fluid consumption, and I’m leaving my air-conditioning on at night, which I never do,” Ms. Friedman, 29, an editor at a medical news website, said as she sat on a stoop, sweating and waiting for her friend to arrive.

Though the weather was far from pleasant, Ms. Friedman said she believed that New Jersey residents had better get used to it.

“With climate change, there will be more and more extreme weather coming,” she said. “We can only expect more of this.”

New Jersey is warming faster than any other state in the region, according to its Environmental Protection Department, and extreme heat events are expected to become more frequent and last longer.

Some residents fled North Jersey’s urban areas on Sunday for the relative relief of the Jersey Shore.

Franco Riofrio, 41, a banker from Woodland Park, had traveled with his wife and young daughter to the public beach at Sea Bright, calling the trip “the absolute best way to escape this heat.”

The weather made a sudden shift even as the family arrived on the beach: Mr. Riofrio said his car’s temperature gauge had read 100 degrees, but that it had felt drastically cooler as a strong wind swept in from the Atlantic Ocean.

“It’s been so incredibly hot, then the wind hits us and it feels like we’ve got a wind chill,” Mr. Riofrio said. “I guess we can expect a lot more volatility in weather patterns from now on.”

John Forsman, the captain of the Sea Bright lifeguard squad, pointed out that beachgoers should be careful about ocean swimming, which can be dangerous even during optimal weather.

“Rip currents are real, and beach erosion has worn out the sandbars that helped swimmers in the past,” Forsman, 26, of nearby Little Silver, said.

“This heat wave has definitely made more people go to the beach than normal,” he added. “But they really need to understand that when you swim in the ocean, you have to know your abilities and know your limits.”

Heat waves, especially extended ones like this one, can be particularly brutal for the homeless. While cities like Pensacola have opened up cooling centers to offer relief, finding places to sleep away from the dangerous heat is no small feat.

“Right now, living on the streets really sucks,” James Beard, 54, said in a biting tone.

This section of Pensacola, on the city’s west side, was once considered a thriving area, booming with the city’s first major shopping center and other commercial properties. These days, Pace Boulevard, a large street near Waterfront Rescue, is lined with worn-down buildings and abandoned gas stations. Homeless people stand on street corners, holding cardboard signs with words such as “Homeless, anything helps” scrawled with a marker.

With strict city ordinances and state laws in place, Mr. Beard and Bobby Green, 34, who have both been homeless for three years, expressed feeling helpless. One ordinance prohibits sleeping or camping of any kind on public property.

“There’s no help for the homeless, except for this shade tree,” Mr. Green said.

Sundays are particularly difficult for Mr. Beard and his wife, Theresa Toney, 55, to find relief and shelter. When they are not at Waterfront Rescue, they usually seek refuge at the Alfred-Washburn Center, another nonprofit organization for the homeless. But it is also closed on Sundays.

Mr. Beard acknowledged that Waterfront Rescue does provide some help on Sundays, such as by shuttling them to Ensley First Baptist Church in the afternoon for food and clothes. But before then, they have nowhere else to go, and “you’re just screwed, “Mr. Beard said.

“You need to drink water — gallons and gallons of water.”

Brandon K. Thorp contributed research.

Midwest

• Chicago on June 17 — New high: 97. Previous high: 94.

• Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., on June 18 — New high: 99. Previous high: 93.

• Toledo, Ohio, on June 17 — New high: 99. Previous high: 97.

• Cleveland on June 17 — New high: 96. Previous high: 94.

• Racine, Wis., on June 18 — New high: 95. Previous high: 94.

Mid-Atlantic

• Baltimore on June 22 — New high: 101. Previous high: 100.

• Dulles, Va., on June 22 — New high: 100. Previous high: 99.

• Clarksburg, W.Va., on June 19 — New high: 97. Previous high: 94.

• Shippensburg, Pa., on June 19 — New high: 97. Previous high: 96.

• Pittsburgh on June 18 — New high: 94. Previous high: 91.

• Niagara Falls, N.Y., on June 19 — New high: 91. Previous high: 89.

• Snowshoe, W.Va., on June 21 — New high: 82. Previous high: 77.

Northeast

• Manchester, N.H., on June 19 — New high: 98. Previous high: 93.

• Boston on June 19 — New high: 98. Previous high: 95.

• Hartford, Conn., on June 19 — New high: 97. Previous high: 95.

• Woodstock, Vt., on June 21 — New high: 96. Previous high: 94.

• Greeneville, Maine, on June 19 — New high: 93. Previous high: 90.

• Mount Washington, N.H., on June 20 — New high: 70. Previous high: 64.

South

• Winchester, Tenn., on June 17 — New high: 99. Previous high: 94.

• Naples, Fla., on June 20 — New high: 98. Previous high: 96.

• Rockport, Texas, on June 17 — New high: 97. Previous high: 94.

Teams of nurses have responded to four calls, and a woman who may have been suffering from a heat stroke was taken to a hospital for treatment Saturday evening. Many callers have reported malfunctioning window units that they can’t lift, or fans that fail to cool their homes, Mr. Lawrence said.

The corporation also refers callers to the nearest cooling centers, based on an interactive map published by the city. Philadelphia has been operating about 150 official cooling centers since it declared a heat health emergency starting Thursday.

“It’s particularly brutal out here the last few days,” Mr. Lawrence said. “The level of calls that would be considered emergency-based or potential for emergency, those are definitely higher than in years past.”

To provide a respite from the sweltering temperatures, the South Philadelphia Older Adult Center, which normally would be closed for the weekend, opened this Saturday and Sunday.

Larry Guerra, 89, lives about a block and a half from the center and tried to stay in the shade when he walked there on Saturday morning. He made it through the heat but said he was “glad it wasn’t any further.” He planned to return on Sunday.

About 10 seniors spent Saturday in the center, and some of them said that they had no air-conditioning in their homes, said Darryl Gibbs, a clerk at the center who was managing it this weekend.

In the Cecil B. Moore section of North Philadelphia, Derrick Fleming, a 53-year-old chef, said he had checked on some of his older neighbors who don’t go out, and brought them some water and food on Saturday.

Some of them take refuge in an air-conditioned senior center nearby. If any look as though they need medical attention, Mr. Fleming is ready to call an ambulance, he said. But he is thankful that he hasn’t needed to yet.

“Their conditions are not bad, but they are not good,” he said. “They’re on fixed incomes. That’s why I make sure they’re OK.”

In the Mid-Atlantic, including the Washington area and Philadelphia, the number of visits climbed from 290 on Monday, the first day of the heat wave, to 1,150 on Saturday. That was the highest rate anywhere in the country all week. On Saturday and Sunday, several temperature records were broken in Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Data also showed a spike in the region that includes Iowa and Missouri, with 1,077 visits on Saturday, up from 267 on Monday. On Saturday, the temperature in Kansas City, Mo., reached 95 degrees, 10 degrees above average for this time of year.

Earlier in the week, as New England states sweltered under record-breaking temperatures, the number of visits climbed from 57 per 100,000 on Monday, the first day of the heat wave, to 848 on Thursday.

The region is less acclimated to having high temperatures this time of year than others, and places like Boston and Hartford, Conn., had record temperatures. Caribou, Maine, reached 96 degrees this week, tying the highest temperature ever recorded there.

Much of the Midwest also had more heat-related emergency room visits than usual, with such trips reaching a peak of 632 visits on Wednesday. Chicago hit a record high of 97 degrees on Monday.

Areas around New York and New Jersey also saw a surge in heat-related medical issues this week, going up to 537 heat-related emergency room visits on Friday, from 141 on Monday. New York City reached daily temperatures it hadn’t experienced in almost two years, going up to 94 degrees in Central Park on Friday.

Deaths resulting from extreme heat have been on the rise in the country in the past few years. The C.D.C. recorded about 2,300 heat-related deaths in 2023, up from approximately 1,700 in 2022 and about 1,600 in 2021.

Global warming has been making heat waves hotter, more frequent and longer lasting. And the longer a heat wave, the more health risks people face because each additional day of extreme heat further strains the body.

Temperatures in New England fell on Friday, but the Mid-Atlantic continued to bake through Sunday. By Monday, cooler temperatures are expected along the populous Interstate 95 corridor on the East Coast, but the National Weather Service predicts intense — and potentially dangerous — heat for parts of the South and the Plains throughout the upcoming week.

How Heat Affects Sleep

The body’s core temperature naturally drops during sleep, but hot environments can prevent the body from properly cooling. Studies also suggest that lower ambient temperatures signal to your body that it’s time to rest.

If the temperature in your bedroom is too high, it may be difficult to fall asleep, and you may wake up more frequently throughout the night, said Dr. Michael Irwin, a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. You may also get less restorative sleep, he added.

To help your body regulate its temperature, your bedroom should ideally be between 65 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit, said Rebecca Robbins, an assistant professor of medicine in the sleep medicine division at Harvard Medical School. If your room is far hotter, you may wake up throughout the night, particularly during the stages of sleep when it’s not possible for the body to regulate its own temperature, she said.

“When exposed to extremes, we’re likely to wake ourselves up in order to shiver or wake ourselves up in order to sweat,” Dr. Robbins said.

Set Yourself Up for a Good Night’s Rest

There are steps you can take to sleep better during a heat wave, beyond just turning on air-conditioning, experts said.

“Sleeping well at night starts with staying hydrated and cool during the day,” Dr. Milando said. Drinking plenty of water when it is hot outside ensures that your body has enough fluid to cool down. When you’re dehydrated, you sweat less, and it becomes easier to overheat.

You can also keep your home cooler by closing your blinds or curtains to filter out direct sunlight, experts said. Keeping air circulating in your bedroom can also help. If you don’t have an air-conditioner, install a fan in an open window, which will help bring in the cooler air from outside, Dr. Robbins said.

To lower your body temperature before bed, place a damp rag on your forehead, Dr. Irwin said. “The moisture in that rag is going to evaporate across the night,” he said. But avoid ice packs, experts said, since placing them on your skin for too long can damage skin or cause frostbite.

Dr. Robbins recommended sleeping under a thin top sheet, which can promote airflow and make it easier to stick out your limbs out from under the sheet when you feel too warm. Pajamas should also be thin and loose to avoid trapping in heat. But when it’s extremely hot, “it might be a good time to try your birthday suit,” Dr. Robbins said.

If you are struggling to sleep peacefully during a heat wave, resist the urge to toss and turn in bed — it’ll only make you hotter, Dr. Robbins said.

“Try not to kick yourself for being awake, which we can all do,” she said. “Maybe get up, use the bathroom, try to keep the lights low, and then come back to your bedroom when you’re tired and get into bed when you are ready to sleep.”