WASHINGTON, July 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The Potomac River, which flows
through the US capital Washington, hit a record high temperature of 94
degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Celsius) over the weekend — as warm as
bathwater — following a major heat wave.
The previous highs came in the summers of 2011 and 2012, though record
keeping began only in 2007.
On Sunday, the temperature exceeded previous records by half a degree
Fahrenheit near the Little Falls rapids, upstream from the US capital,
peaking at 93.7 degrees Fahrenheit at four feet (1.2 meters) from the shore,
halfway between the surface and the bottom, according to the US Geological
Survey.
The United States sweltered in dangerously hot weather over the weekend,
with major cities including New York, Philadelphia and Washington broiling in
temperatures that rose into triple digits.
US media blamed the heat wave for at least six deaths, including a hiker
who had been found unconscious on a trail outside Washington on Saturday and
two people who died earlier in the week in the eastern state of Maryland.