1st day of summer hazardous in East

— The official start of summer Wednesday delivered temperatures in the high 90s to the Eastern Seaboard, setting records in some spots and getting awfully close in others, with people wilting at graduation ceremonies, students trying to learn in sweltering classrooms and authorities warning folks to check on elderly neighbors.

The hot spell arrived right on time - on the longest day of the year - in a region that’s home to some of the nation’s most densely populated cities. Record temperatures were reached at all three New York City-area airports, along with Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport and the cities of Burlington, Vt., and Houlton, Maine, according to the National Weather Service.

Health officials across the Northeast warned residents to drink water, stay out of the sun and stay in air conditioning, and to check on elderly neighbors and pets.

Several relatives of high school graduates were treated for heat exhaustion at an outdoor ceremony in North Bergen, N.J., and taken to a hospital. Ambulances were on standby at the event, which was held outside to accommodate about 5,000 people, said Capt. Gerald Sanzari of the North Bergen Police Department.

Similar scenes took place in Connecticut, where nearly two dozen people suffered heat-related symptoms while attending high school graduations in New Britain and Stamford. Fifteen people who suffered from heat exhaustion or fainting at the New Britain High School graduation received treatment at hospitals, said David Koscuk of the New Britain Emergency Medical Services. Stamford EMS Capt. Bill Ackley told the Stamford Advocate that eight people were treated or taken to the hospital from the Stamford High School graduation.

In Howell, N.J., school officials made Wednesday the last day of the school year instead of today, citing the heat. At nearby Wall High School, people attending the graduation ceremony were able to watch a remote broadcast inside the air-conditioned building.

According to the weather service, the temperature hit 94 degrees at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, passing the 93-degree mark set in 1995. The 98-degree temperatures at LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport passed records set in 1953, when highs reached 96 at LaGuardia and 97 at Newark.

In New England, the mercury hit 97 degrees at Bradley airport in Hartford, Conn., breaking the 1995 record of 96 degrees. Record temperatures were also seen in Burlington, Vt., and Houlton, Maine, which reached 95 degrees and 90 degrees, respectively.

Even places that didn’t break records were extremely hot. In Washington, the airports topped out at 98, one degree shy of setting new heat marks. The mercury in Philadelphia rose to 97 degrees, one degree short of the record set in 1931.

Every state in the Lower 48 except for North Dakota was forecast to have 90-degree weather until Saturday, according to a model by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency in charge of data on weather, climate and oceans.

In a rare bending of the rules, the Metro in Washington, D.C., said passengers Wednesday and today would be allowed to drink water, an exception to its no-drinks policy.

Information for this article was contributed by Jessica Gresko, Patrick Walters, Frank Eltman, Karen Matthews, Samantha Gross, Tom Hays, Deepti Hajela, Verena Dobnik, Mary Esch, Stephen Singer, Dave Collins, Erika Niedowski, Shannon Young and Bridget Murphy of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 06/21/2012

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