Record Temps Grip East Coast and Hold On

(CBS/AP)  It's a summer scorcher.

The National Weather Service says a warm air mass over the eastern U.S. is sending temperatures rising well above normal from the mid-Atlantic states to Connecticut.

The average temperature for New York's Central Park on July 5 is 83 degrees. But it's expected to hit the mid-90s on Monday.

Utilities asked consumers to conserve energy. Power plants were getting a little help from the calendar. Because Independence Day fell on a Sunday, many people had a day off Monday, and demand was predicted to be lower as a result.

But the extended holiday has increased demand for relief. Five Connecticut state parks have stopped admitting people because they had reached capacity.

Record temperatures have been set or are expected in several places, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor.

And it's not just the level of heat - it's the length of time. Meteorologists don't see a break in this stifling pattern - a ridge of high pressure parked over half the country - until late in the week at the earliest. It will also get more and more humid.

Increasingly New York and other cities are setting up cooling centers -public, air conditioned spaces open to anyone.

Doctors warn that the very old and the very young are most susceptible to heat-related illnesses like hyperthermia and heat stroke.

"They have less ability to tolerate the extremes of temperatures, the extremes of dehydration," Dr. Alton Barron of New York's St Luke's Hospital told Glor.

And the heat this month comes on the heels of what was already a record-setting month of June in many spots. Philadelphia, Washington, and Miami all had their hottest Junes on record.

There have already been at least 14 heat-related deaths in states on the eastern seaboard.

And then there's the power problem. Many more air conditioners are soon to be blasting in homes up and down the coast as millions return from the holiday weekend. Energy companies are preparing for an awful week.

That could mean brownouts later in the week due to the enormous strain on the power grid.

[wdh3007]

Why is this news when it is already obvious to the entire country they should report news worthy material worth reading. Obama is useless Gates is a whimp Holder is bias & useless Elena Kagan is a Pagan & 2.2 million jobs have been lost since the fraud in chief took control, the war is still ongoing with no end in sight and oil is still leaking while BP fiddles. Some change people voted for November is comming lets start with a clean slate so that history does not repeat itself.

[askagain]

Why not blame our President for the hot temperatures. Oh, I forgot. Some of you would blame George Bush.

[wyodutch]

Had a high of 68 here today and had to turn the heat lamps on for the turkey poults tonight.
.
Meanwhile, the folks back East are basking in hundred-degree temperatures with 98 percent humidity... crowded cities and bumper to bumper traffic. They sure know how to live.

[democracy5]

CBS, you really need to get a handle on having decent comments pages. This "Your comment will be posted shortly" response 1/2 the time means that the comment won't be posted AT ALL, even if it is completely acceptable and obeys your "Terms of Agreement".

There's only a 50/50 chance that even THIS comment will be posted.

[democracy5]

Mirabile dictu!

[fanofall]

Boo Hoo, that's the same thing we live with every day from May until October in Louisiana. Now look what else wwe have to live with!!!! It's hard for us along the Gulf to feel sorry for someone that has these types of temps every 10+ years, when we have them for 5-6 months every year. Of course WE are the "SMALL PEOPLE", who cares!!!!!!!!!

[democracy5]

Fanofall, not to be rude, but sorry, you live in LA knowing what the normal temps should be from one season to the next. 90+ temps for a number of consecutive days in early July are highly unusual for this part of New England.

Having said that, I do feel terrible for what you in the Gulf are all having to deal with as a result of BP's utter incompetence and irresponsibility.

You are NOT "little people" in my book, you are people who are standing strong and proud in the face of terrible adversity, in the same way that people from all over the USA stood for New York after 9/11--we DO care, because we realize that, even if it doesn't affect us directly, that we are ALL Americans! I MISS the way that people used to be like that.

God Bless!

[lloydbest1]

To "Democracy5"

Good post. I wish others would understand that from coast to coast and from the arctic circle to the Rio Grande, it's all "us".

[myopinionpal]

We must be in a period of global cooling during this time the earth heats up and during global warming the earth cools down. Strange isn't it!!!

[curse914]

There is no cooling, the jets are changing. Look to the poles for the initial changes to occur.