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U.S. faces day or two more of extreme heat, storms

The eastern, central and southern U.S., close to half of the nation, faces another day or two of extreme heat and severe weather that could further disrupt power to homes and businesses, meteorologists said today.

Thunderstorms swept through Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia last night, bringing down numerous trees and power lines, the National Weather Service said. Wind speeds were recorded at 91 miles per hour near Fort Wayne, Ind., and 80 mph at Franklin, W.V.

The storms followed a day of temperatures reaching triple digits, including a record-setting 104 degrees at Washington’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, breaking a mark of 101 degrees set in 1934.

About 2 million customers were without power in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, according to utility outage web pages. Dominion Resources Inc. had 719,726 without power in Virginia and North Carolina, most of those in Virginia. First Energy Corp. said more than 560,000 of its customers were without power.

“I’m impressed by the number of 100-degree temperatures that we’ve seen and it has been widespread,” said Tom Kines, a meteorologist for AccuWeather.com Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania.

Kines said 276 daily high temperature records were set yesterday, and 1,456 daily high records in the past seven days.

109 in Athens

Some of those records included 109 degrees in Athens, Georgia, and 106 degrees in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Kines said. Charlottesville, Virginia, also set a record with 104 degrees.

In Boston, temperatures were likely to be in the high 90s today, and low 90s tomorrow. New York City’s high temperature is expected to be in the mid-90s today and tomorrow, Kines said. Philadelphia may reach 96 degrees today, and 95 tomorrow.

Kines said he expected 101 degrees for Washington today and 99 degrees tomorrow, with the possibility of more severe weather tonight in the same areas that were hit by storms last night.

Amtrak said it was seeking to restore service between Philadelphia and Washington today after thunderstorms downed trees and power lines, causing the loss of signal power. Crews were assessing damage, making repairs and clearing debris, the railroad said in an e-mailed statement.

Closed to Spectators

In Maryland, the start of the third round of the U.S. PGA Tour’s AT&T National golf tournament in Bethesda was delayed by the storm. Power was knocked out and trees uprooted on the Congressional Country Club course. Play will resume this afternoon, though the club will be closed to spectators.

In Virginia, six people died due to the storms and more than 1 million were without power, Governor Bob McDonnell’s office said today in a statement. He declared a state of emergency in the commonwealth.

The Associated Press reported that two people died in New Jersey and one in Maryland due to the storm.

West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency last night after 500,000 people were without power because of storm damage in 27 counties, according to a state website.

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