By Joe Holley and Jenna Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, August 9, 2007
While a dangerous heat wave hanging over the East Coast generated severe storms that delayed flights, flooded New York City subways and spawned a rare tornado in Brooklyn, Washington area residents languished yesterday in oppressive heat and humidity.
At 12:05 p.m., the temperature hit 102 degrees at Reagan National Airport, according to the National Weather Service, breaking by one degree the record for Aug. 8, set in 1930.
A few clouds moved in just before 2 p.m., lowering the temperature a bit, but it hovered in the high 90s all over the Washington area, said meteorologist James E. Lee.
The temperature also soared at the other major area airports. At Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, the temperature hit 102 at 3:13 p.m., breaking the record of 99, set in 1980. Dulles International Airport peaked at 101 degrees at 3:02 p.m., topping by three degrees the record set in 1980.
The torrid August heat slowed down not only pedestrians trudging along baking downtown sidewalks, but also the Metro trains below.
Because excessive heat can bend steel rails, trains were held to speeds of less than 45 mph, rather than the usual 59 mph. The trains also were operated manually rather than automatically.
Rush-hour passengers on Metro's Red Line also were bent out of shape. They were ordered outside into the broiling heat when Metro closed three heavily used stations -- Dupont Circle, Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan and Cleveland Park -- on its busiest line for about two hours after a passenger reported seeing a suspicious package on the last car of a train headed for Glenmont, Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith said.
Police destroyed the box, which turned out to contain nothing dangerous -- some papers and cardboard. The stations were closed shortly before 3 p.m. and opened at 5 p.m., and delays rippled through the system.
Metro ran more than 52 shuttle buses between Farragut North and Van Ness-UDC to accommodate the crowds of people.
The heat was at least partly responsible for power outages in the Van Ness area about 2 p.m., according to Pepco spokesman Robert Dobkin. After a power cable malfunctioned Tuesday night, crews spliced other cables together. But when power use soared in yesterday's heat, it proved too much for the cobbled-together cable.
High demand across the mid-Atlantic region led Pepco and other utilities in the regional PJM Power Pool to reduce system voltage by 5 percent. Declaring an energy emergency, the utilities asked customers to cut back virtually all nonessential electricity use, including air conditioners, except for equipment required for health and safety purposes.
For anyone turning off the air conditioning or daring to venture outdoors, the heat was overpowering.
On the Mall, trees bordering the open area provided a bit of protection from the pitiless sun, but visitors to the National World War II Memorial, many of them elderly veterans and their families, were at the sun's mercy. The temperature at the concrete heart of the memorial reached 103 degrees in midafternoon. Several visitors took just a few steps before needing to seek out a patch of shade.
A 26-year-old intern from South America collapsed after walking to the White House yesterday afternoon, fire officials said. Medics gave her intravenous fluids and transported her to George Washington University Hospital.
In Colonial Williamsburg, faux colonists were hard at work -- though they banked their fires in kitchens and the blacksmith shop -- but hardworking horses got a break. Carriage rides were canceled.
It was, of course, a Code Orange day, signifying unhealthful air quality for the elderly, the young and those with special needs.
Government officials were clearly worried about the impact.
The city of Manassas is expected to ask residents to conserve water today because of steadily dropping reservoir levels in Lake Manassas. Voluntary water conservation -- curtailing lawn watering or car washing, for example -- is a precursor to mandatory conservation, officials said.
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted Tuesday to ask Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) to designate the county a drought disaster area. That would give county farmers the ability to request federal drought relief. The Prince William Food and Agriculture Council reported that the area's 28,800 acres of crops are expected to suffer more than $1.6 million in losses this year.
Prince George's County health officials are launching an education campaign with tips on coping in brutal temperatures. Two cooling stations were opened this week.
"The key to beating the heat is respecting the heat," said Donald Shell, chief health officer for Prince George's.
Shell said that there are clear signs of heat exhaustion or heatstroke, including confusion and disorientation. The person also may stop sweating. "The only problem with the signs is that the individual may not recognize it themselves," he said.
Shell said about five people have died because of the heat this summer, though none in recent days. He said the key is monitoring. "We advise a buddy system where people like the elderly will not be alone," he said.
The heat wave is turning out to be one for the record books.
The normal high for Aug. 8 is 88 degrees. The previous record of 101 was set in 1930, during the hottest 30-day period in Washington history. Temperatures hit the century mark 10 times in 21 days.
The 1930 heat wave was the cause of what The Washington Post called "unusual happenings":
· A woman living in an apartment on 10th Street NW shot and killed her husband when he refused to give her money for food. She blamed the heat. The morning she pulled the trigger, the temperature in the couple's apartment reached 110 degrees, she told police.
· Chickens that had been entered in an egg-laying contest at the University of Maryland Experiment Station were listless. Yields were disappointing.
· A 16-year-old Virginia hunter collapsed after being overcome by heat and shot himself in the head with a .22-caliber rifle. The bullet knocked him out but inflicted only a scalp wound, The Post reported.
Thirteen-year-old Betty Allen Conner of 5535 30th Pl. NW had her own take on the oppressive heat of August. In her poem, "Heat," published by The Post on Aug. 3, 1930, she wrote:
"We call out, we ask:
'Give us a winter day,
A frozen, icy day.'
But the sun,
The mighty, golden, burning sun,
Only laughs,
And, dizzy with its power,
Overwhelms the city and man."
It will be a "very hot, humid day" again today, said John Feerick, a National Weather Service meteorologist. But relief from the "mighty, golden, burning sun" could be on the way. Thunderstorms may move into the area tonight, and Feerick is predicting a Saturday high of 87 degrees with less humidity.
Staff writers Lena H. Sun, Hamil R. Harris, Amy Orndorff and Christy Goodman contributed to this report.
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