Hottest Summer Ever for New York City

This 95-degree forecast for September 1 isn’t making things any better: New York City endured the hottest summer on record this year, according to the National Weather Service, with an average high of 77.8 degrees. The summer, defined by the weather services as June through August, was worse than the 44-year-old record of 77.3, and worse than the 2006 heat wave that caused a days-long blackout for 100,000 New Yorkers. There was more than a month’s worth of 90+ degree days. About 80,000 pounds of ice cubes were used on the first day of the U.S. Open. And 17.2 million visited beaches in the city—Coney Island alone saw three times more people than in 2009. One dry ice company has been sending out delivery trucks to desperate ice cream stores as much as 15 hours a day.