Temperatures were up again Thursday, reaching 96 at the Atlantic City International Airport, one degree shy of the record.
The National Weather Service has extended its heat advisory through Friday morning. NWS meteorologist, Larry Nierenberg, said that late afternoon thunderstorms will a be a gift and a curse.
“It’s possible (Friday) could be one of those days where the temperature could be a degree, or two cooler, but it may feel more humid,” he said. “So you may not really notice any difference. But by evening, there could be some scattered thunderstorms. That’s going to end the heat.”
Atlantic City Electric peaked at 2,680 megawatts Thursday between 6 and 7 p.m. The company’s all-time peak was 3,009 megawatts in August of 2006.
Bill Yingling, from Atlantic City Electric said that things have been running smoothly, with occasional heat-related outages.
The back-to-back hot days brought a wave of customers out to Art Handler’s Appliance and TV Center in Pleasantville. General manager, Brian Finkelstein, said they sold more than 50 air conditioners on Wednesday and Thursday, compared to a usual summer day, in which they sell five.
“People are lining up,” he said. “When the heat hits, that’s when people realize their air conditioners are broken, and then they all come out, and need it immediately. There all just dying from the heat, and getting air conditioners.”
He said that this happens every heat wave, but this year, the difference is price point.
“They’ll all try to get the smallest, cheapest air conditioner they can find, just to solve their problem,” he said. “And it might not be enough BTUs to work, but it’s all about the price point right now, because of the economy. We sell a lot of 5,000 BTU, no-frills air conditioners for around $125 when they probably should have eight or 10 thousand BTU air conditioners.”
A broken air conditioner at the Dairy Queen in Egg Harbor Township meant 91 degree heat inside of an ice cream shop.
Jim and Cathy Danzuso turned on the A/C in their Margate condo, and then went to the Dairy Queen to wait for it to kick in.
“The Blizzard’s always been our little guilty pleasure,” Jim Danzuso said.
“We thought it’d be air-conditioned in here,” Cathy Danzuso said.
At the Frank Theatres Towne Stadium 16 in Egg Harbor Township, the air conditioning was blasting but the theater was empty. General manager, Jerry Torian , said that heat does not bring in customers.
“Yeah, it’s kind of the other way around,” he said. “You get the heat and it draws people to the beaches. (Thursday) was a little bit more because it was two days in row. But, typically, you get it the other way around.”
Nierenberg said relief is coming.
“The good news about (Friday) is, by the evening, probably around this time, there’s going to be a cold front moving through,” he said. “And that’s going to bring showers, and thunderstorms, and that’s going to end the heat. I mean on Saturday, temperatures look to be only in the mid to upper 80s and much less humid.”
Contact David Simpson:
609-272-7204
