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From September 23 through October 4 (and October 5 along the Gulf Coast), parts of the United States experienced the kind of extreme heat that characterized the summer in parts of Europe. In the United States, a historic autumn heat wave smashed record high temperatures. On Wednesday, October 2, the temperature reached 93° in New York City’s Central Park, which surpassed the daily record of 90° from 1927. At both JFK Airport and La Guardia Airport, the temperature reached 95°, the highest October temperature on record in the New York City area. In Newark, the temperature rose to an October record 96°.

Daily records included:

Allentown: 93° (new October record)
Athens, GA: 98°(tied October record)
Atlanta: 96° (new October record)
Baltimore: 98° (new October record)
Birmingham, AL: 103° (new October record) ***first annual high temperature in October; records go back to 1895***
Bridgeport: 87°
Charlotte: 99° (new October record)
Harrisburg: 93°
Huntsville, AL: 100° (new October record)
Islip: 89° (new October record)
Lexington, KY: 96°
Louisville: 96°
Macon, GA: 98°
Mobile, AL: 96°
Montgomery, AL: 99°
Nashville: 99° (new October record)
New York City-Central Park: 93°
New York City-JFK: 95° (new October record)
New York City-LGA: 95° (new October record)
Newark: 96° (new October record)
Norfolk: 97° (new October record)
Pensacola: 93°
Philadelphia: 95°
Poughkeepsie: 88°
Raleigh: 96°
Richmond: 98°
Sterling, VA: 96° (new October record)
Tuscaloosa, AL: 101°(new October record)
Washington, DC: 98° (new October record)
White Plains, NY: 90° (new October record)
Wilmington, DE: 98° (new October record)

Numerous 100° or above readings were recorded during the heat wave in the South. Some of those temperatures surpassed the records set on October 2.

The highest temperature anywhere was 105°, which occurred on October 3 at Pelion (0.8 NW), South Carolina.

Rainbow following heavy showers late in the afternoon of October 2