\u201cToday is probably the hottest day for New York City,\u201d said Bob Oravec, a senior branch forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center. \u201cThe worst of the heat is today for New York City and today, tomorrow and Friday for DC.\u201d<\/p>\n
Washington is forecast to top 100F (38C). New York City\u2019s heat index is expected to reach 102F.<\/p>\n
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Wildfire smoke from hundreds of fires burning across Canada continues to blanket parts of the Great Lakes, Midwest and Northeast. Air quality alerts are in effect across portions of the Midwest and Northeast, and forecasters expect some of the smoke to spread toward Washington and Philadelphia. People with heart disease, asthma and other respiratory conditions are most at risk from deteriorating air quality.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis will be a prolonged event, and we may see worse air quality tomorrow,\u201d said Amanda Lefton, commissioner for the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, adding that the smoke will come \u201cin waves\u201d throughout the day.<\/p>\n
The state will distribute face masks throughout New York City. Lefton said New York is seeing increasing air quality issues because of longer fire seasons.<\/p>\n
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With electricity demand surging in the eastern US, the Energy Department is allowing generators on the country\u2019s biggest grid, operated by PJM Interconnection, to bypass environmental permits and run at full capacity into next week. Meanwhile, New Jersey Transit warned riders<\/a> that high temperatures could slow trains and cause delays.<\/p>\n Real-time prices on PJM\u2019s western hub briefly spiked to $395 per megawatt-hour Wednesday afternoon. Spot power on the Dominion section of the grid serving Virginia\u2019s Data Center Alley fetched as much as $500\/mWh Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n The Mid-Continent Independent System Operator, which serves a large swath<\/a> of the central US, issued<\/a> a maximum generation warning due to forced generation outages and load that\u2019s set to exceed forecasts through the Midwest. MISO plans to implement emergency pricing, which can drive up<\/a> ex-post prices on the grid to secure additional capacity.<\/p>\n Temperatures in Minneapolis are expected to peak<\/a> at 96F Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service, while humidity will drive<\/a> the heat index past 100F at O\u2019Hare International Airport outside Chicago.<\/p>\n Large areas of Southern California are also under extreme heat warnings and advisories, the weather service said. Wednesday\u2019s high may reach 95F in downtown Los Angeles.<\/p>\n The fire threat is rising across California and the West, where dry winds have raised an elevated, or level 1 of 3, threat, the US Storm Prediction Center said. Onshore winds across California will dry out and heat up as they roll downhill across the state\u2019s coastal mountain ranges and Central Valley.<\/p>\n While several small blazes are burning across California, the largest is the Elephant Fire in Sierra County that has consumed 15,526 acres (6,283 hectares) and is 42% contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. The blaze is burning on federal land about 22.8 miles (37 kilometers) northwest of Reno, Nevada.<\/p>\n ![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/haze-from-canadian-wildfires-blankets-the-manhattan-skyline-as-seen-from-a-brooklyn-pier-on-july-15-.jpeg\")
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