Long Island weather: Region braces for third day of high heat as Hochul asks New Yorkers to conserve power

Temperatures on Long Island hit the triple digits Tuesday, with a slightly cooler, but still sweltering day, predicted for Wednesday.

Long Island MacArthur Airport hit 100 degrees at 2:50 p.m. Tuesday, the first time since July 22, 2011, and only the eighth time in history since records began in 1963. It was the hottest-ever June day in Islip, according to Newsday TV meteorologist Rich Von Ohlen.

It was so hot that Route 110 cracked near Duryea Road in Melville and the state Department of Transportation had to do emergency pavement repairs. 

Wednesday is the third day of the region's heat wave before relief comes with storms Wednesday night that usher in highs Thursday barely surpassing 70 degrees.

Heat indexes, heat combined with humidity, will go as high as 97-102 degrees for much of the area Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service's heat advisory. Some eastern coastal locations will have slightly cooler heat indexes, between 95 and 100°F.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, in a news release Tuesday night, said "Earlier this evening the New York Independent System Operator warned that we are approaching peak capacity in the downstate region and it is critical to conserve electricity between now and 10:00 PM." She added that New Yorkers should set their air conditioning at 76 degrees.

The LIPA system, operated by PSEG Long Island, was seeing relatively high power use by Tuesday afternoon, according to a state dashboard of usage by zones across New York.

The Long Island zone by 3:54 p.m. on Tuesday had seen power consumption increase to 5,300 megawatts, a big jump from the early morning low of 2,690 megawatts but far below the most recent record in July 2020 of 5,462 megawatts. The all time high peak power usage for the Long Island grid was 5,915 megawatts on July 22, 2011. Tuesday’s high was expected to rise to an even higher peak by 5 p.m., according to the state dashboard.

Tuesday, the hottest of the three-day heat wave, saw a recorded temperature of 100.4 degrees at Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach as of 2:15 p.m., the weather service said.

According to Von Ohlen, some of the other high temperatures Tuesday as of 2 p.m. included: Shirley at 99, Montauk at 97, Farmingdale at 97, and East Hampton at 94.

"This was a perfect, unique setup to get these temperatures," Von Ohlen said. "We did not get the sea breeze that normally cools Long Island ... which is why Montauk saw the upper 90s, which is very rare."

An air quality alert has been issued for Long Island and the metro area from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday, when excess amounts of ozone are expected due to the hot weather. The air quality for Long Island Tuesday was considered to be unhealthy for sensitive groups due to the ozone.

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Despite the conditions, some folks still had to work while others enjoyed the heat at the beach.

For Daniel Donohue, 51, it unfortunately was the former.

The Wading River resident has worked for the Town of Brookhaven for 23 years, with 19 years spent in the parks department. 

"My co-worker yesterday fell ill last night," Donohue said as he cared for grass in downtown Port Jefferson. "We had to go to the ER. She was dehydrated."

"I have these wraps I put on my neck that are gel that you freeze them, so they help keep you cool, and then just take a few breaks every so often; jump in the truck, cool off a bit because [all] we have is a truck. We don’t have an office to jump into or anything like that," he said.

Two Port Jefferson Marina ramp workers, 18-year-old Sarah Mlyn of Mount Sinai and 20-year-old Sally Gliganic of Stony Brook, shared their feelings as they helped get the boats on and off the trailers amid the intense heat.

"It’s awful," Mlyn said. "I mean, luckily we have AC in our little shed over there, but it’s definitely hard to just drink water and not pass out."

Several municipalities opened pools, beaches, and splash parks early last week in anticipation of the heat wave.

Nassau County also announced a list of cooling centers on Friday that are open to the public. Suffolk residents can check the county website for a full list of municipal cooling centers.