As Heat Bakes the Region, Officials Take Precautions

Code Red Alert on Air Quality Issued for Today

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Heat, Humidity Smother Area
The fiercest summer heat to hit the Washington region in four years led officials to throw open cooling shelters and sent tourists in the nation's capital scurrying to their hotel swimming pools for relief.

The fiercest summer heat to hit the Washington region in four years led officials yesterday to throw open cooling shelters and caution moderation and sent tourists in the nation's capital scurrying to their hotel swimming pools for relief.

It hit 98 degrees in the shade -- with a high approaching 100 expected today.

For the first time since summer 2004, a Code Red day for the region -- when air quality is expected to be unhealthy -- was declared for today by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. The health advisory urges children, older adults and individuals with heart or breathing ailments to limit outdoor activities. In an effort to reduce air pollution, residents are also asked not to worsen conditions by driving unnecessarily or using gasoline-powered mowers.

Fares will be waived today on Metrobus routes in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

The mid-Atlantic was not the only region sagging under a heat wave. Excessive heat warnings were issued from Las Vegas to New Jersey as temperatures from coast to coast soared into the upper 90s and beyond. In Illinois, where a 1995 heat wave killed about 700 people, officials opened more than 130 buildings as cooling centers for residents without air conditioning.

The searing heat wave underscored a point made by the National Climatic Data Center last week, when it reported that the first half of 2006 was the warmest stretch in the United States since record-keeping began in 1895. The average temperature for the continental United States for the first six months of the year was 51.8 degrees. That is 3.4 degrees above the average in the 20th century.

In the Washington area, the last time temperatures hit 100, as they could today, was Aug. 13, 2002, said meteorologist Chris Strong of the National Weather Service.

Although weather forecasters initially called for a string of miserable, stifling days, they were hoping for an early respite tomorrow, when a cool front moving through the area is expected to dial the temperatures back to the more typical low 90s. By the weekend, another welcome front could bring afternoon temperatures down to the 80s, Strong said.

"This heat wave is short-lived, certainly," he said. "We will be back soon to more typical July weather."

In the meantime, however, it was scorching: In the District, the Emergency Management Agency opened cooling centers yesterday in senior centers and federal buildings. In Montgomery County, free electric fans were offered to the elderly. In Howard County, the Recreation and Parks Department made some changes to its schedule to make sure students could be close to air conditioning. And in Loudoun County, more than 100 children stayed home from tennis or baseball classes run by the parks and recreation department.

"Our number one goal is safety," said Rick Oldfield, sports program manager for Loudoun's Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Service. He said programs would be canceled "if we feel like it's going to do any harm."

Several area hospitals reported people came to emergency rooms with heat-related illnesses, particularly dehydration. Paula Faria, a spokeswoman for the Washington Hospital Center, said more people probably experienced heat-related medical problems than was reported because many conditions, such as asthma, high blood pressure and diabetes, are aggravated by extreme temperatures.