It was sweltering, but relief is in sight

D.C. officials opened cooling centers and outdoor pools to help residents cope with temperatures that soared into the 90s yesterday.

Meteorologists say the heat wave should be short-lived. Thunderstorms last night and a cool front moving into the area today should drop the high temperatures to the mid-80s, with less humidity for the remainder of the week, according to the National Weather Service.

The high yesterday was 95 degrees in the District and in the low- to mid-90s in Maryland and Virginia. The 94-degree temperature recorded at Washington Dulles International Airport tied a record high set last year.

The normal temperature for this time of year is about 85, said Greg Schoor, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

Mr. Schoor said the heat was the result of a ridge of high pressure building over the area.

“Once that moves through the area, temperatures can rise pretty quickly,” he said. “Now that it’s moving out, it’ll cool down.”

When the heat index reaches 95, the city’s response plan goes into effect. The plan includes the activation of up to five street showers and the opening of four cooling centers, said Jo’Ellen Countee, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

The heat index yesterday was 101.

“We did activate [Monday] as well,” Mrs. Countee said. “We weren’t certain the heat index was going to hit the target. It was so close, so warm that [our director] decided to err on the side of caution.”

On high-heat days, homeless shelters in the District remain open beyond their usual 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. hours, and some senior citizen public housing buildings open their community rooms as cooling centers, she said.

The city’s outdoor public pools, which are scheduled to open fully on Monday, also opened for several hours yesterday.

Prince George’s County has a similar heat plan, offering two cooling centers during high-index days. The county also provides free bus transportation when temperatures are in the high 90s and 100s and the air quality is poor.

Clay Anderson, a spokesman for Potomac Electric Power Co., said it usually takes a “three-day event” of high temperatures for the utility to experience distribution problems.

“It’s going to be a long summer,” Mr. Anderson said. “Conservation is always important. … Whenever people can bring up their thermostats a few degrees when they’re not at home during the day, washing clothes in the evening, everything you can do for conservation. That helps everyone.”