The heat wave that has melted the tri-state for the past week has broken records in New York City and New Jersey, hitting 104 degrees in Central Park by early afternoon and a sultry 108 in Newark.
The heat index was greater than 110 degrees in both New York City and Newark; 108 degrees is the hottest ever on record in New Jersey’s largest city.
It’s the seventh day of the scorching summer heat wave, and the heat is not expected to retreat until Sunday.
The previous Central Park record was 101 degrees, set in 1957.
Con Edison is warning customers to expect scattered outages for the next few days as the power grid is stressed at capacity. There were outages in every borough and Westchester County Friday, with the most in Brooklyn, at about 200 customers, the company said.
“We’re going to be in new territory, and for us that translates into a very high demand for electricity,” said John Miksad, senior vice president of Electric Operations for Con Ed.
Miksad said Con Edison has extra crews and support personnel standing by, ready to respond to any heat-related disruptions that might occur. The utility is asking customers to set air-conditioners at 78 degrees or higher, turn off lights in empty rooms and put off running appliances until after 10 p.m.
There were scattered outages affecting about 1,000 people on Long Island, and the Long Island Power Authority urged customers to conserve power to avoid additional problems.
Suffolk County Police reported the arrest of a woman who left her 1-year-old daughter unattended inside her 2011 Mercedes Benz at the Big H Shopping Center Friday. Police found the girl sweating, alone in the car, in direct sunlight. The girl was not injured.
