Extreme heat will roast East Coast for another day, but cooler temps are coming

Much of the East Coast can expect one more day of ominous heat before a cold front drops into the Great Plains and cools off many parts of the nation that have been under hot weather alerts, federal forecasters said.

Cooling was expected to begin Sunday in the Midwest, but the Eastern Seaboard would remain at near-record temperatures before cooling Monday, the National Weather Service said in a statement.

Areas from the Carolinas to Maine will be under the greatest heat threat, the weather service said, with daytime highs in the mid to upper 90s combined with humidity that will make it feel more like 100 to 110 for many.

Record temperatures were recorded Saturday at both New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport and at Atlantic City, New Jersey, where it registered 99 degrees in each location.

Both Boston and Hartford, Connecticut, came within two degrees of their all-time highs for the date at 97 and 98 degrees, respectively.

But the figures did not reflect how hot it felt because humidity boosted temperatures into the triple digits, forecasters said, making New York City feel like 111 degrees, Washington 112 and Chicago 105.

As many as 169 million people from Oklahoma to Maine were under heat alerts Saturday, and early morning lows Sunday could break records, forecasters said.

"Overnight will provide little relief as temperatures struggle to get below the upper 70s or even low 80s," the National Weather Service said.

The heat wave claimed the lives of at least three people — a man in Prince George's County, Maryland; a woman in Worcester County, Maryland; and former New York Giants football player Mitch Petrus, 32,who died of heatstroke in Arkansas.

Forecasters said cooling could exceed 10 degrees Monday after the cold front moves into the Great Plains.