Extreme heat lingers across the mid-Atlantic, but storms are expected to cool off states

Wednesday is another sweltering day for those in the mid-Atlantic as temperatures soar into the mid-90s once again just before a storm front is set to take over the Eastern Seaboard.

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Residents from Boston down to Raleigh, North Carolina, are facing highs between 91 and 96 degrees after reaching record highs for the month of May in some places a day prior. The National Weather Service noted that a high of 101 degrees was recorded in New Jersey on Tuesday.

“It is worth noting the all-time high for the month of May in New Jersey is 102 in Paterson on May 31, 1895,” the weather service said in a post on X .

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged people to stay hydrated and seek out city cooling centers as a heat advisory was issued across the five boroughs. He warned that storms could roll in as soon as the late afternoon but heat would be at its worst between noon and 3 p.m. ET.

“And please check in on your neighbors,” Mamdani wrote on X.

The heat is set to break later Wednesday as storms roll into the Northeast in the afternoon or evening. Forecasts have temperatures plummeting more than 20 degrees across the area on Thursday and Friday.

The rain is set to linger for days in what could be a wet Memorial Day weekend for some states.

There’s also some risk of severe thunderstorms Wednesday from the southern Plains across to the Ohio Valley into the lower Great Lakes region, according to the National Weather Service. There is a hail threat in West Texas before the storm system is expected to move into south-central Texas by the evening.

On the West Coast, flames have erupted in California just a few weeks before the peak of wildfire season. Nearly 1,700 acres have burned near the Simi Valley due to the Sandy Fire as of Wednesday morning, with 15% of the flames contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Two wildfires are raging in Riverside County, near Los Angeles, the Verona and Bain fires. The Bain Fire is 25% contained across 1,375 acres, while the Verona Fire is significantly smaller at less than 500 acres, the department reported.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a smoke alert for Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties. It advised people in the affected areas to run air purifiers, avoid “vigorous physical activity” and limit exposure by remaining indoors with the windows closed.

“Depending on fire activity, smoke conditions are expected to improve during the day in areas not adjacent to active fires,” the agency said.