Heat wave fast facts:
- Up to 195 million people could be affected from the central U.S. to the East Coast.
- New Orleans had a heat index of 120 degrees as of 1 p.m. Friday.
- New York City officials canceled the Central Park festival Ozy Fest.
- Former New York Giants offensive lineman Mitch Petrus died from apparent heat stroke in Arkansas.
A dangerous heat wave is sweeping through large parts the central and eastern U.S. that could affect up to 195 million people. Heat indexes of over 100 degrees were already recorded from Miami to Minneapolis on Friday.
Parts of the upper Midwest and along the East Coast facing temperatures that feel like 110 degrees. The National Weather Service said about 120 record-high minimum temperatures could be set — meaning there will barely be any relief at night.
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The heat wave turned deadly in Arkansas, with former New York Giants offensive lineman Mitch Petrus dying from what officials said was apparent heat stroke.
Ozy Fest canceled in New York City
Central Park festival Ozy Fest has been canceled due to the heat wave, New York City officials said Friday.
“In the case of OZY Fest, we do have in our contract for either rain events or extreme heat events. We do have the right of exercising cancellation if the heat index exceeds 105 [degrees],” NYC Park Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver said in a statement Friday. “We determined for both days, as we got updated information, that was going to be the case.
The festival advertised John Legend, Trevor Noah, Miguel, Tove Lo, Alex Rodriguez, Megan Rapinoe, Rachael Ray, Padma Lakshmi, Spike Lee, and 2020 Democratic hopeful Beto O’Rourke as guests.
Ex-NFL player dies of heat stroke
Former New York Giants offensive lineman Mitch Petrus has died in Arkansas of apparent heat stroke, officials said. He was 32.
According to Pulaski County Coroner Gerone Hobbs, Petrus died Thursday night at a North Little Rock hospital. He says Petrus had worked outside all day at his family shop, and that his cause of death is listed as heat stroke.
Petrus was a University of Arkansas walk-on who played alongside Razorback greats Darren McFadden and Felix Jones and later earned all-Southeastern Conference honors. He was drafted by the Giants in the fifth round in 2010 and had a three-year NFL career, winning a Super Bowl with New York in his second season.
NYC beaches and pools to stay open late
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city’s beaches and pools will stay open later than usual. Olympic-size pools and intermediate-sized outdoor pools will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Beaches will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
As part of the mayor’s executive order, all office buildings 100 feet and taller must set their thermostats to 78 degrees to conserve energy until Sunday night. At a press conference on Friday, de Blasio said this was the first time this has been done.
The city’s cooling centers will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and in some cases, there will be extended hours, de Blasio said.
The New York City Public Library announced it will open decided to open five additional branches in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island on Sunday, July 21.
Biscuit baked in car in Nebraska
The National Weather Service in Omaha, Nebraska, baked biscuits in a parked car using only the heat of the sun. The agency put four biscuits on a baking sheet, then left them on the dashboard of a parked car in the sun to begin its experiment.
Over the course of the next eight hours, the weather service shared updates on how the biscuits were doing.
After about 45 minutes, the biscuits began to rise, and after an hour, the pan temperature reached 175 degrees. “This is a good time to remind everyone that your car does in fact get deadly hot,” the agency tweeted. “Look before you lock! On average, 38 children die in hot cars each year. Don’t be a statistic!”
At the five-hour mark, the agency reported the top of the biscuits were baked, and even the temperature in the shady part of the car had reached 144 degrees.
“And after nearly 8 hours in the sun, the outside of the biscuit is actually edible,” the agency wrote in its final update. “The middle is still pretty doughy though. The max temp on the pan was 185!”
— Sophie Lewis
