It’s only June: Record-breaking heat grips eastern half of US; forecasters say get used to it

From The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/expected-sweltering-temperatures-trigger-excessive-heat-warnings-on-east-coast/2011/06/08/AGxtiuLH_story.html

By Associated Press, Published: June 8

WASHINGTON — The mercury climbed into the 90s across half the country Wednesday in a record-breaking blast of August-like heat, forcing schools with no air conditioning to let kids go home early and cities to open cooling centers. And scientists say we had better get used to it.

A new study from Stanford University predicts that global climate change will lead permanently to unusually hot summers by the middle of the century.

Temperatures in the 90s were recorded across much of the South, the East and the Midwest. Baltimore and Washington hit 99 degrees, breaking high-temperature records for the date that were set in 1999, according to the National Weather Service. The normal high for the date is about 82.

Philadelphia hit 97 degrees, breaking a 2008 record of 95, and Atlantic City, N.J., tied a record of 98 set in 1999. Chicago reached 94 by midafternoon. The temperature hit 97 in LaGuardia, N.Y., breaking the old record of 96 set in 2008. Newark, N.J., reached 99 degrees, breaking a record of 97 set in 1999.

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