The July heat wave has claimed a second victim – a 10-year-old Brooklyn girl. The city medical examiner’s office said Tuesday that the girl had an underlying medical condition that contributed to her death.
The girl died on Shabbos – the same day a 94-year-old Brooklyn woman died when the mercury hit 100 and eclipsed a record set in 1991. In both cases, the official cause of death was “hyperthermia due to exposure to high environmental temperature with underlying natural disease.”
City officials haven’t released the victims’ names.
The heat wave broke Monday. Tuesday was 89 degrees. But more 90-degree temperatures are in the forecast for this weekend.
“Before that, we have a slight cold front coming through,” said meteorologist David Stark of the National Weather Service.
So look for temperatures in the low to mid 80s today before the mercury rises again.
“Right now we are looking at dry weather over the weekend with temperatures in the low 90s,” Stark said. “Of course, that could change.”
Despite the record heat, this July has been cooler than the same month last year. The average temperature this month was 80.8 degrees. Last July’s average temperature was 81.3 degrees. The hottest July ever in the city was in 1994, when the average daily temperature was 81.4 degrees.
Officials blamed three fatalities on the heat last July.
Gotham started to bake last Thursday when the temperature hit 97. Friday was the second-hottest day in city history, with the mercury climbing to 104 degrees in Central Park.
{NY Daily News/Matzav.com Newscenter}
