It'll feel like 113 degrees in parts of Nassau today
A dangerous heat wave was expected to continue Friday into the Independence Day weekend on Long Island, with temperatures nearing triple digits and authorities warning of serious risks to seniors, people with health problems or those in homes without air conditioning.
Temperatures at the National Weather Service monitoring station in Islip were forecast to reach 98 degrees Friday, but the heat index — what it feels like when humidity is taken into account with temperature — was expected to spike to 107. It was predicted to hit 113 in Syosset and Stony Brook and 102 in Montauk.
"You know that energy we feel when we're going to get a hurricane around here?" said Carol Seitz-Cusack, CEO and president of Therm-A-Trol Heating and Air Conditioning Specialists in Blue Point. "I'm feeling it. I'm feeling everybody's just kind of waiting to see what happens. We're all going to be very busy."
Kerry O'Brien, the third-generation co-owner of heating and cooling company T.F. O'Brien & Co. in New Hyde Park, said he expects double or triple the normal number of calls during the heat wave. The most basic repairs for central air systems start at $300 and can quickly rise to $1,000 or more, he said.
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Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.
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