"KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An unrelenting and record-setting heat wave peaked this weekend, beating a broad swath of states into sweaty submission, with above-normal triple-digit temperatures stretching from St. Louis to Washington."
"The searing heat withered crops in the fields, buckled roadways and caused at least two train derailments. At least 36 weather-related deaths have been reported since the temperatures first shot up 10 days ago.
"I'm avoiding the outside world," Monica Fuhrman, 21, of Centreville, Va., said Saturday morning in Washington as she walked through Dupont Circle on her way to an indoor conference at Howard University. "I can't handle heat like this. It's too miserable."
More than 200 record highs were broken on Friday throughout the Midwest and along the East Coast. And more records fell on Saturday. In Washington, the high was 105, which was a record for the day and 1 degree shy of the hottest temperature ever recorded there."
John Eligon and Marc Santora report for the New York Times July 7, 2012.
SEE ALSO:
"Heat To Lessen This Week Throughout Much of US; at Least 46 Deaths Blamed on Heat Wave" (AP)
"Relief Comes for US Midwest, Northeast After Heat Wave" (Reuters)
"Rising Temperatures and Drought Create Fears of a New Dust Bowl" (TIME/Ecocentric)
"Heat Wave Peaks After Breaking Thousands of Records" (Climate Central)
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