Final leg of record-breaking heat wave scorches more than 70M along East Coast ahead of stormy holiday weekend
Relief finally arrives in the form of severe storms Wednesday afternoon and evening, after which temperatures will drop back into the 60s through the holiday weekend.
Final day of record heat wave across Eastern Seaboard
Wednesday is the final day of a record heat wave that has baked much of the Eastern Seaboard. Temperatures will once again climb into the 90s from Boston to the Carolinas, after more than 50 municipalities set record high temperatures earlier this week. Relief finally arrives in the form of storms Wednesday afternoon and evening, after which temperatures will drop back into the 60s through the holiday weekend.
Wednesday is the final day of a record heat wave that has baked much of the Eastern Seaboard. Temperatures will once again climb into the 90s from New England to the Carolinas, after more than 50 municipalities set record high temperatures earlier this week.
Relief finally arrives in the form of severe storms Wednesday afternoon and evening, after which temperatures will drop back into the 60s through the holiday weekend.
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 19: People shade themselves from the sun as they cross Atlantic Avenue amid a heat advisory on May 19, 2026 in Downtown Brooklyn in New York City.
(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Record-breaking heat is baking the East Coast after stubborn chilly weather gripped the region for much of the spring, outside a brief mid-April warmup.
Temperatures began to rapidly climb into the 80s and 90s on Sunday across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast, with both Philadelphia and Boston setting record highs on Tuesday, hitting 98 and 96 degrees, respectively.
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(FOX Weather)
If New York City reaches 90 degrees Wednesday, it would be the first May heat wave — three consecutive days of 90 degrees or higher — since 1987.
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Manchester, New Hampshire, skyrocketed to 97 degrees Tuesday, marking its earliest day of 95 degrees or higher on record.
Heat Advisories remain in effect through 8 p.m. Wednesday for parts of Eastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, and southern New England.
(FOX Weather)
The FOX Forecast Center warned those heading to the beach for the first time this year that water temperatures along the Northeast coast are still in the 50s.
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Sudden exposure to cold water can cause brief shock and even hypothermia. A Moderate Rip Current Risk covers much of the Mid-Atlantic, including the Jersey shore.
Relief from the summer-like heat will come in the form of severe storms arriving mid-to-late Wednesday afternoon and lasting through the evening commute.
(FOX Weather)
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has placed parts of the Interstate 95 corridor including, Providence, Rhode Island, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. in the bull's-eye of a Level 2 out of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms.
The main threat from these storms will be damaging wind gusts.
The threat extends back into parts of the interior Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley, covering parts of southern Pennsylvania, Maryland, northern Virginia and West Virginia.
(FOX Weather)
Behind the storms, temperatures will fall back into the 60s and 70s with periods of localized heavy rain beginning Saturday and lasting through the Memorial Day weekend.
A widespread 1 to 2 inches of rain is expected to cover a corridor from the Ohio Valley through Upstate New York through Monday.