The National Weather Service is warning people in New York and surrounding states of unusually high temperatures headed to the Northeast over the weekend.
Lead Meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Binghamton office Michael Murphy said in a June 20 interview with the Ithaca Journal that a ridge of high pressure will transport significant heat and humidity into the area starting Sunday.
“It looks like temperatures are going to be at their hottest levels on Monday, and then it will continue to be very hot through right through Tuesday as well,” Murphy said. “It looks like some minor relief will come mid to late week as temperatures come back down.”
If you’re spending Sunday and Monday in the Ithaca area, prepare for temperatures in the mid to upper 90s, and a heat index between 100 and 110, he said.
“We’re definitely expecting some daily records to be broken with this pretty excessive heat coming up,” Murphy said. “The average high for this time of year is around 78 degrees for Ithaca, and we don’t keep an average heat index, but I would say typically, it would be right around 78 to 80 for the area at this point in the year.”
Anybody working outside, elderly people, people who take medication or those who typically exercise outside will need to take frequent breaks from the heat, be it in shade or air conditioning, Murphy said.
“We’re looking at major to extreme impacts across the area, and that just means that the heat can really affect anybody, but especially vulnerable populations.”
The service’s online Heat Risk map indicated that a minor heat risk in the region on June 20 would ramp up to Moderate on June 21, Major on June 22, and Extreme through June 23 and 24.
Tompkins County Whole Health presents hot and cold weather preparedness information on its website, including a list of NY public Cooling Centers by County.
Visit weather.gov for updated information on temperatures and weather patterns, events and emergencies.
This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Meteorologists expect record-breaking temperatures in the Finger Lakes next week
Reporting by Jacob Mack, Ithaca Journal / Ithaca Journal
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