This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The US east coast sweated through another day of heat and humidity on Sunday, in a stretch of weather so oppressive that a New Jersey drawbridge got stuck, Pennsylvania firefighters suffered heat exhaustion and police departments from New York to Boston implored residents and criminals to play it safe.

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“Sunday has been canceled,” New York police tweeted. “Stay indoors, nothing to see here. Really, we got this.”

The central part of the country, meanwhile, enjoyed some relief as a cold front moved southward and eastward, bringing temperatures down. But cooler weather on Monday and Tuesday will also bring severe storms and heavy rain that could cause flash flooding and produce damaging winds, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned.

The Carolinas up to Maine were expected to see the highest temperatures on Sunday. Daytime highs were expected in the mid-to-upper 90s Fahrenheit, which coupled with high humidity could feel as hot as 110F or 43C.

Boston opened city pools free to residents as the temperature cracked 90F (32C) for a third consecutive day. Police in one suburb also posted a tongue-in-cheek request on their Facebook page.

“Due to the extreme heat, we are asking anyone thinking of doing criminal activity to hold off until Monday,” Braintree police wrote. “Conducting criminal activity, in this extreme heat is next-level henchmen status, and also very dangerous.”

In New York City all eyes were on the power grid even before the hot weather, following a Manhattan blackout last weekend. Electricity company Con Ed reported scattered outages on Sunday, the vast majority in Queens. The city also directed office buildings to set thermostats no lower than 78F (26C) through Sunday, to reduce strain on the grid.

In Philadelphia, several hundred people were evacuated from a retirement community on Saturday because of a partial power outage that officials said may have been heat-related.

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, nine firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion and six transported to hospital after fighting a house fire in sweltering conditions. The Strinestown fire company said all the firefighters were released by the time the Conewago Township blaze was extinguished.

In New Hampshire, rescue crews helped a 29-year-old hiker late on Saturday after he was overcome by the heat in the White Mountain National Forest.

In New Jersey, the Oceanic Bridge over the Navesink River was closed on Saturday evening after it got stuck open. Monmouth county officials said heat caused expansion of the metal encasing the drawbridge, a popular route for residents and beachgoers.

The heat prompted officials to close Fort Delaware State Park for the weekend. Temperatures were too much for costumed interpreters who wear civil war-era clothes made from wool. Officials cited safety concerns for staff, volunteers and guests.

The park’s Pea Patch Island, a Union prison camp during the war, has limited air conditioning and transportation from the island can present difficulties for a person who has a heat-related emergency, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control said.

The NWS reported high temperatures for 20 July were recorded on Saturday at its weather stations in Atlantic City, New Jersey, New York City, Westfield, Massachusetts, Manchester, New Hampshire and Wallops Island, Virginia.

On Sunday afternoon the heat wave was starting to break in the northern reaches of New England. A Canadian cold front brought a series of thunderstorms that dropped temperatures across northern Vermont and upstate New York. But a heat advisory remained in effect for southern sections of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, where heat indexes could still top 100F.

In many parts of the country, life was not expected to get much easier when the sun went down. Temperatures were expected to remain at or above the high 70s overnight, around 26C.

Experts warned residents in affected areas to limit time outdoors. The risks are greatest for young children, the elderly and the sick.

Inland, strong wind and rain were expected to persist in the Midwest, and a cold front stretching between the Central Plains and the Great Lakes region was forecast to move south. The cold front was expected to carry showers and thunderstorms, which could lead to heavy rainfall and flash flooding in the Midwest.

Storms knocked out power to hundreds of thousands in Michigan and Wisconsin on Saturday.

The heat wave canceled or delayed events across the affected region, from horse races in Maryland, New Jersey and upstate New York to a 5K run in Chicago’s Grant Park. In New York City, a commemoration of the 1969 moon landing planned for Times Square and an outdoor festival featuring soccer star Megan Rapinoe and musician John Legend were also nixed due to the heat.