New York could hit 100 degrees for first time since 2012

Mayor Zohran Mamdani activated New York City’s heat emergency plan on June 29 as forecasters warned that Central Park could top 100 degrees for the first time since July 18, 2012. Five numbers capture how severe this stretch could become: the park’s 100-degree benchmark, its 99-degree high on June 24, 2025, a citywide heat index near 109, possible pockets of 110 to 115 degrees, and more than 300 temperature records expected to fall nationwide by Saturday.

Central Park’s readings matter because they are the city’s official benchmark, and a move from 99 degrees to 100 degrees marks the difference between a near-miss and a record that has held for nearly 14 years. The June 24, 2025, high was already the hottest temperature at the park since 2012, underscoring how close the city has been to breaking through again even before this week’s heat wave peaks around the July Fourth holiday weekend.

The National Weather Service issued an Extreme Heat Warning for the New York City area, signaling dangerous conditions as the heat spreads east. City officials said the warning period could produce heat index values that feel like 109 degrees, with some locations reaching 110 to 115 degrees, a level of heat that raises the risk for older adults, outdoor workers, people without air conditioning and anyone spending long periods in the city’s dense urban heat.

New York’s response was already in motion. The city said hundreds of cooling centers would open across all five boroughs, new COOL vans would be deployed, and pop-up cooling stations would be set up for outdoor workers. More than 2,200 LinkNYC kiosks will direct residents to the nearest cooling center within a 10-minute walk, an effort designed to push people toward relief quickly as temperatures climb.

The forecast has become part of a broader holiday-weekend heat wave that forecasters say could erase more than 300 temperature records across the United States by Saturday. In New York, the question is no longer whether the city is hot, but whether the numbers will cross the line into a record that has not been touched since 2012.