East Coast Wilts Under ‘Warm, Wet Blanket’ of Record Heat, Humidity

A wave of record heat and sticky, humid air enveloped the eastern third of the nation Monday, wilting people who had to be outside and shifting air conditioners into electricity-sucking overdrive.

The air “feels like a warm, wet blanket,” said Amanda Finley, 22, in Charlotte, N.C.

“We’re taking numerous showers,” said Iris Robinson of Newark, N.J., where the mercury hit a record 103 degrees. “I didn’t really get any sleep last night. All you could do was just lay still and don’t talk.”

The National Weather Service posted heat advisories from the Mississippi Valley to the East Coast, warning that the combination of humidity and high temperatures would create heat index readings of 110 and higher. It was the third advisory day in a row for Chicago.

When the Reds and Houston Astros played an afternoon baseball game in Cincinnati, a thermometer stuck in the artificial turf at Cinergy Field registered 154, the highest in at least two years.

Records started falling a few minutes after noon, with Portland, Maine, reaching 94. New York City rose to a record 101. Bridgeport, Conn., registered 100 for the first time, and Philadelphia tied its record at 100. Raleigh-Durham, N.C., hit 100--but it wasn’t a record there.

The mercury hit a record 102 at Washington’s Reagan National Airport. “It’s hotter than at home. I expected it to be cooler here,” said Douglas Napo, an exchange student from Togo.

At the Flag Acres Zoo in Rensselaer County, N.Y., owner Harry VonHaggin fed his monkeys Popsicles and made giant ones for bears by freezing fruit chunks and water in 5-gallon buckets.

“It’s a luxury that they enjoy, and for the bears it’s a source of entertainment too,” VonHaggin said.

Former New Yorker Andrew Deschapelles prefers the weather in Phoenix, where the forecast high was 108. “It may be 115 degrees here, but it’s more tolerable because of the lower humidity. Ninety-five degrees in the summer in New York is the most miserable thing on Earth.”