NEW YORK (AP) -- The likelihood of just 80- or 90-degree weather in the East sounds downright delectable after four days of a steamy heat wave.
The National Weather Service forecasts less brutal heat throughout the region Thursday, though it's still likely to be uncomfortably humid.
Eastern cities have been roasting. Heat waves are more oppressive in big cities because concrete, asphalt and steel absorb more solar energy during the day and are slow to release it at night.
A 100-degree reading at noon Wednesday in Trenton, N.J., broke a 17-year-old record. Philadelphia hit 100 for the second straight day. Newark, N.J., hit triple digits for the fourth straight day, something that hadn't happened since 1993. Raleigh, N.C., reached 101 degrees Wednesday, surpassing the previous record of 100 in 1977.
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