By Monica Sager
Live News Reporter
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One of Massachusetts' largest school districts has canceled classes for Thursday and will begin the 2024 summer break early, as an early-season heat wave blankets much of the Northeast.
At least four school districts in Massachusetts and one in New York have already announced school closures or early dismissals as temperatures inch into the 90s, with some cities expecting triple-digit highs before the week is out.
"We are anticipating hot weather this week with high temperatures forecast above 90 degrees Tuesday through Friday," said Rachel H. Monárrez, superintendent of Worcester Public Schools, in a letter to the school community. "As a result, school will be canceled on Thursday, June 20."
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The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education guidance says these days do not need to be made up, meaning Tuesday will mark the last day of school for Worcester public school students. (Schools are closed Wednesday for the Juneteenth holiday.)
"Because of the age of our buildings, many do not have air conditioning. We regret that we are ending the school year in an abrupt manner, but we want to ensure our students and staff are safe in what are predicted to be unusually hot temperatures," Monárrez said.
The Boston school district has declared half days for Thursday and Friday.
Norwood and Newton in Massachusetts will have early dismissals. After school programs are also canceled.
In upstate New York, schools in the Rochester City School District will have early dismissals on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, as nine elementary and five secondary schools are without air conditioning and only four schools have partial cooling units.
Students will be dismissed three hours earlier than regular times. Friday is the last day of the classes for the year.
The map below shows the school districts that are closing early because of the heat.
Heat dome
The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat watch throughout the Northeast for the rest of the week.
"We have a large area of high pressure in the upper atmosphere," Kevin Cadima, a meteorologist at Massachusetts National Weather Service office in Boston, told Newsweek.
Cadima called the system a "heat dome," when a high-pressure atmospheric current causes warm air to be pushed to the surface, where it becomes trapped for an extended period of time.
A heat advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Thursday in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
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An excessive heat watch continues in those areas through Sunday evening. More than 70 milllion Americans will be under some kind of heat advisory this week.
Even though summer doesn't officially start until Thursday, a prolonged heat wave is not unusual for this time of year, Cadima said. Boston has had 13 occurrences of four straight days of over 90 degrees in June dating back to 1925. The most recent was in 2021.
Cadima also noted the middle of June, just before the summer solstice, has the most extreme sun angle, so the sun is "almost as high as it can get."
Heat is one of the leading weather-related killers in the U.S., according to the National Weather Service. Young children and infants as well as older adults are most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses and death. Pregnant women are also at higher risk.
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"Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors," the NWS recommends. "Do not leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles. Car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes."
For people that like to exercise outside, Cadima recommended doing so in the early morning or late evening. The hottest times of day are typically between 3 and 5 p.m.
This week's heat wave come ahead of a summer that meteorologists predict will be especially warm and rainy for the Northeast.
"It's going to be wet and hot," Cadima said.
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