It’s about to get really, really hot.
City officials are advising New Yorkers to prepare for potentially dangerous extreme heat during the next few days. Temperatures are predicted to soar into the high 90s on Thursday and Friday, and the mid-90s Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
The heat index, which is an approximation of what the temperature will feel like given humidity levels, will be 105 on Thursday and 105-108 on Friday. That earned New York City an “Excessive Heat Warning” from the National Weather Service for the next two days. It’s the highest level of heat-related alerts that the NWS issues, and is assigned when the agency considers conditions to be “extremely dangerous.”
Saturday’s temperatures will still meet heat advisory conditions, but are not expected to be as severe.
“Heat kills more New Yorkers every year than any other kind of extreme weather event,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference at the city’s emergency management headquarters in Brooklyn. “Access to cooling is a matter of life and death.”
About 350 people die prematurely in New York City every year due to heat-related causes, according to a report from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released earlier this month. People with underlying illnesses, such as certain kinds of cardiac disease, for example, are particularly vulnerable, the report found. It also noted that Black people and residents of high-poverty neighborhoods are disproportionately affected by the heat.
Adams urged residents to find their local cooling centers, where people can escape the heat in an air-conditioned space, or to consider going to neighborhood pools, or participate in other air conditioned indoor activities. He also advised New Yorkers to drink plenty of water, walk their pets early, stay out of the sun during the afternoon hours, and check up on their neighbors.
“This is not our first heat wave, and with climate change accelerating, it won’t be our…
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