Parts of the Northeast could reach the upper 90s on Wednesday, including Maine, where temperatures are set to tie a record. Follow live updates on the U.S. heat wave.
BOSTON — A blistering heat wave Wednesday extended from the Midwest to New England, leaving millions of people sweltering through the Juneteenth holiday, including in places like northern Maine where they rarely experience such conditions this early in the year.
The city of Caribou, Maine, just 10 miles from the Canadian border, saw a record 103 degrees on the heat index, which combines heat and humidity. The region was under a heat advisory until Wednesday evening and temperatures in Caribou were hotter than Miami: 94 degrees compared with 89, according to the National Weather Service.Several residents said they were used to temperatures in the 70s and 80s in June and rarely this humid.
“We are seeing a ridge of upper level high pressure, which is bringing all this heat from the southern United States,” said Kyle Pederson, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boston.“That is just causing lots of hot temperature in the mid- to upper 90s and the heat index to reach over 100. It's just going to make it feel warmer than it is outside," he said. "You will really feel that humidity and feel the heat quicker.”
The conditions were expected to scale back some Juneteenth activities and limited options for relief. Cities that opened cooling centers this week advised that Wednesday's holiday meant some public libraries, senior centers and pools where residents could beat the heat would be closed.
