CINCINNATI — Hot weather that has plagued the Plains for days spread eastward Thursday, blanketing several more states under a sizzling sun and excessive heat warnings that made people sick, shut down summer schools and spurred cities to offer cooling centers and free swimming.
The temperature could soar to 101 in Toledo, Ohio — 2 degrees above a record set in 1930. Combined with the humidity, it could feel as hot as 115 across Ohio.
"It feels very sultry, very uncomfortable, and it's just very dangerous," said Jim Lott, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service office in Wilmington, Ohio.
Government forecasters issued excessive heat warnings for a huge section of the country, from Kansas to Massachusetts. Forecasters said much of southern Ohio and southeastern Indiana would face excessive heat — temperatures and humidity that feel like 105 degrees or more — into Friday night before the wave moved on.
Thursday shaped up as the hottest day of a steamy week in Ohio, with temperatures climbing to 97 in the southwestern part of the state. Farther east, the worst of the heat waited for Friday and the weekend.
Scattered deaths have been blamed on the heat nationwide. The Ohio Health Department said emergency room visits have been three or four times higher than usual this week, mainly due to heat exhaustion and heat stroke cases.
Thousands of homes and businesses in southern Michigan lost power Thursday morning as people strained services by cranking up air conditioner use. Ferndale Recreation Director Julie Hall said a cooling center in suburban Detroit took in numerous senior citizens after their nearby apartment lost electricity.
Lisa Blumentritt headed to the cooling center after spending Wednesday night without air conditioning in an apartment where it was "difficult to breathe."
Baltimore, Annapolis and several other Maryland cities opened public cooling centers for folks to find relief. Allentown, Pa., waived fees at all public pools.
The temperature could approach triple digits in Philadelphia and much of central and western New York. Philadelphia school officials sent students home early Thursday and canceled summer school for Friday.
Some outdoor events also were canceled, but the annual Dayton Air Show said it would go on this weekend.
At the Warren County Fair in Lebanon, Ohio, rides were closed early Thursday afternoon. Fair officials pushed their opening time back to 4 p.m. because of the heat. Attendance is off this year, too, fair officials said.
In Delaware, Ohio, a Harry Potter costume party fundraiser was moved from Friday to July 29. The party will benefit a group that seeks to preserve and promote downtown Delaware.
The statement from Main Street Delaware reported: "We blame nargles. (And the stifling heat, too)."
Contact the reporter at http://www.twitter.com/dansewell .
AP writers Corey Williams in Ferndale, Mich., and Kantele Franko in Columbus, Ohio, contributed.