Sizzling Temperatures in the Tri-State May Reach Record Highs

Sweltering temperatures are expected to roast the city Wednesday and Thursday as the heat index climbs to 95 degrees and above, according to the National Weather Service.

Cooling centers where air conditioning is available will be opened in all five boroughs on both days. The city Office of Emergency Management recommends calling 311 or using the Cooling Center Finder online to locate the nearest cooling center.

Virginia Norvil, who doesn't have air conditioning in her Brooklyn apartment, took her 8-month-old son to a cooling center two blocks from her home at the Albany Senior Center in Fort Greene.

"It was so hot outside, we need some air," Norvil said. "We come her to get some cold air. Plus, I had a baby sweating outside, and this place was good."

The record highs in Central Park for June 8 is 95 degrees, set in 1933. The National Weather Service said it was about 92 degrees in Central Park on Wednesday afternoon. But it felt a few degrees warmer with the humidity.

The heat wave could challenge records across the East Coast and has sparked heat advisories and excessive heat warnings in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., among other Northeast cities.

Health officials issued an ozone alert for New York City metro area and parts of upstate as the heat and humidity mixes with pollution from vehicles and power plants. The warning is in effect from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

John Kent, an air pollution meteorologist with New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, said unhealthy air conditions form when pollutants mix with oxygen in the atmosphere. High temperatures and lots of sunlight spark the chemical reactions that cause ozone to form.

"That acts as a respiratory irritant, and it's especially of concern to very young and elderly people, and anyone with respiratory problems," he said.

With the Associated Press