With temperatures finally falling below 90 degrees today, the heat wave that has gripped the city for the past several days is finally letting up, but thousands around the city are still without electricity with Queens still leading the pack.
About 1,000 customers or about 4,000 people, are without electricity. About half of those customers are in Queens. Con Ed crews are working to restore power to many areas around the city where a spike in demand caused outages.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg is still urging those with power to conserve.
"Temperatures are expected to be in the 80s – that puts a lot less of a burden on the power distribution system,” said Bloomberg. “It’s summer and we have to conserve all year round, but particularly all summer long."
It still feels hot but the heat wave has subsided. Halleluah!
The Department of Health is looking into the death of a man in Brooklyn, which may have been heat-related. Alcohol could have been a factor.
After several days of record-breaking heat and humidity, forecasts are predicting a much cooler weekend for New Yorkers with temperatures in the 80s — not exactly cool, but at least offering some respite for heat-weary residents.
A heat wave is defined as three or more days of 90 degrees or more. Judging by readings in Central Park, the heat wave lasted for four days, while at JFK it lasted for three days. LaGuardia Airport, where the mercury hit 90 degrees or above for a full eight days, had the longest heat wave.