The National Weather Service extended a heat advisory for New York City from noon Wednesday through 8 pm Thursday as temperatures could reach triple digits.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has already warned of extreme temperatures due to a heat wave, but the latest forecast calls for even more scorching weather reaching into the 90s, with heat indexes even higher.
“High heat indexes of 95 to 104 today and Thursday,” reads a Wednesday weather summary. “Low temperatures will mostly be in the mid-70s to mid-80s, which won’t allow much cooling overnight,” he adds.
The heat wave and the anticipated rash of air conditioning use by New Yorkers prompted Mayor Eric Adams to order city facilities to reduce their energy use to help prevent overloading the power grid.
Adams said Wednesday that the city’s program for shutting off power in public buildings during heat waves has expanded to include 555 facilities, 90 of which were added in recent years.
“We know that when the temperature goes up in the summer months, so does energy use,” Adams said. “City Hall and other city buildings are proud to lead by example when it comes to reducing stress on the grid during peak demand through the Demand Response program.”
Electric utility companies are warning customers to be cautious.
Consolidated Edison, commonly known as Con Edison or ConEd, announced Monday that it was “mobilizing to respond to any service issues that occur as temperatures climb into the 90s for the second week in a row.” The utility provides power to approximately 10 million people who live in New York City and Westchester County.
Con Ed said that “heat, humidity and increased demand for electricity to power air conditioners can cause wires to overheat and cause outages.”
