Heat breaks records in Worcester, Providence

June 10, 2008 06:09 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

(Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)
Sonia White, 12, and neighbor Isabella Shelton, 3, of Melrose cooled off at Nahant Beach today.

By Kate Augusto and Matt Collette, Globe Correspondents

Temperatures soared into the 90s again today, breaking records in Worcester and Providence and forcing some school districts to cancel classes because of concerns about students' health.

The temperature in Worcester reached 94 by mid-afternoon, breaking the previous record of 91 set in 1984, while the temperature in Providence climbed to 96, breaking the previous record of 94 in 1974, said National Weather Service meteorologist Alan Dunham.

In Taunton, all 8,000 students were dismissed, something Superintendent Arthur Stellar said hasn't been done in 20-odd years. In Fall River, Superintendent Nicholas Fischer said, elementary and middle school students were dismissed at 10:30 this morning. And in Arlington, Superintendent Nate Levenson told parents that school attendance was optional.

The mercury rose to the mid-90s in the interior, as the state endured its fourth day of blast-furnace temperatures. For most of the day, Logan International Airport was in the 80s, but between 5 and 6 this afternoon, the sea breeze apparently lapsed and the thermometer jumped to 94, nearing the record high of 96.

How do you spell relief? Dunham said a cold front will approach this afternoon. Thunderstorms in the western part of the state with potentially damaging winds, and showers to the east will mark the changeover. A tornado watch was issued until 6 p.m. for Berkshire County.

"Tomorrow's looking gorgeous," he said, noting that temperatures are expected to only rise to the high 80s and the humidity will be lower.

In Somerville, the main branch of the public library was closed because the air conditioning was broken.

Nancy Milnor, the library director, said the library's two other branches are still open and she's expecting more people than usual to show up at them.

Milnor's prescription for the heat? Curl up in the air conditioning with a good, cold book.

“Something that has to do with snow, or a winter setting,” Milnor recommended. “Maybe a Russian novel, set in Siberia.”