Cooler temperatures are on the way but likely not soon enough for a large swath of the country hit with dangerously high temperatures for days.
The relief should arrive Thursday in some regions as a cold front drops south from Canada. But others must wait. New York City is bracing for another day in the high 90s.
Cooler temperatures are likely to sweep through the Midwest and into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions by Saturday. They might be accompanied by severe thunderstorms.
The largest heat wave of the summer has stagnated over large regions, bringing sizzling temperatures from South Dakota to Massachusetts. The worst heat was in the Midwest to Northeast, hot enough to buckle highway pavement in several states and force Illinois to open cooling centers.