As people celebrated the Fourth of July, another round of storms swept across the country, fueled by the intense heat.
Parts of the mid-Atlantic, including Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, faced the greatest threat, along with portions of Kansas and Oklahoma.
Those areas were under a level 3 out of 5 risk for severe weather, meaning strong thunderstorms and wind gusts were expected.
Lightning and other severe weather also forced an evacuation of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., before President Donald Trump’s Fourth of July speech.
People at the event were told to take shelter in nearby buildings, and the program was temporarily delayed.
Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks in New York City also kicked off a little earlier than scheduled due to the storms.
Life-threatening Heat Wave Continued
In total, more than 140 million Americans remained under heat alerts Saturday afternoon.
The heat was slightly less intense than Friday, however, it still remained dangerously hot for many areas.
In Washington, D.C., the temperature was 102 degrees, making it the hottest July Fourth on record for the city.
It broke the previous record high of 100 degrees set on July 4th, 1919.
According to officials, 51 people were evaluated for heat-related issues, 12 of whom needed to be taken to the hospital.
On Sunday, temperatures lingered in the upper 80s in New York City. In Boston, the temperature reached the mid-70s.
Thousands of Power Outages Reported
The extreme heat across the U.S. has strained the power grid in some areas.
In total, nearly 800,000 customers went without power.
According to the tracking site PowerOutage, nearly 779,000 homes went without power in the Midwest and Northeast.
The outages came as some areas were expected to face another round of severe weather and dangerous heat on Saturday.
Millions of Americans also dealt with a heat wave that blanketed much of the country.
In Philadelphia, officials called off the Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade, which was planned for Friday, due to the dangerously high temperatures.
The Fourth of July event in Washington, D.C. was also canceled, as was America’s Independence Day Parade, due to the extreme heat.
Organizers said the decision followed discussions with the National Park Service, the District of Columbia government, and Freedom 250.
The National Weather Service had issued an Extreme Heat Warning for the region, warning that heat index values could climb as high as 110 to 115 degrees.
The heat also affected transportation, with Amtrak canceling multiple train services because of heat-related issues.
