reporter: doctors tell us the best thing to avoid a problem is dress in light clothing. don t go outside unless we have to, and of course drink plenty of water. rob and peggy? the ultra-hot conditions are also taking a toll on roads especially in the midwest. repair crews had to scramble to fix two lanes on a busy highway in st. louis. it buckled in the heat and backed up traffic for miles. the heat wave is putting the squeeze on this year s tomato crops. wild tomatoes need heat to thrive. too much of it dramatically cuts down production. complaining that their first re crop only yielded half as many tomatoes as usual. we ll see that reflected at the closely store i m. strong storms with a chance of storm montana to minnesota and also ohio. thunderstorms from mobile to memphis, birmingham and new orleans. scattered showers in maine and florida. don t make me laugh. heavy rain in the four corners region of the southwest. phoenix is the hot spot at 106.
insomniac. your body s cooling system isn t working as well so you re up all night. the thing that may work is to take a cool shower to help cool your body down. cool showers are oftentimes a good thing. sounds like a good idea. as the big apple bakes, new yorkers have somewhere safe and cool to seek a little bit of refuge. 500 cooling centers have been set up across the five boroughs and they ll remain open most of the weekend. everyone is welcome to go there and cool off but officials are especially concerned about the elderly. and here s one way to beat the heat in michigan. grand rapids ice sculptor randy finch carved out ice chairs to cool off on for a good cause, part of a red cross fund-raiser to help the homeless. that looks refreshing. i d take a seat. cools off one area. you need the whole effect. it s an important area. okay, let s take a look at your friday forecast now. because this is going to be the talker today. hail and gusty w wds from billings to the dako
and that can be deadly. before you go to bed you can try a cool shower or cool bath. that will help bring down your ç core body temperature and make it easier to sleep. the tip i heard today that i like the most, try putting your sheets in the freezer for a couple of hours before you go to bed. it will make your bed more comfortable, may help you get to that part of falling asleep. put your sheets in the freezer, all right. as temperatures soar to record highs, new york city s electric company though is warning everyone to brace for some scattered power outages. city officials are making sure new yorkers are getting a little bit of relief from all this oppressiveve heat. thth ve opened 500 cooling centers throughout the city. today s high in new york could reach 101 which would tie e a record. today sounds like the worst day of the last three or four. so brace yourself. i think some people will probably give that sheets trick a try. it s really just getting pretty tough out ther
way. first, mother nature s oven door is now wide open on the east coast, roasting heavily populated cities such as ours with stifling blankets of air, muggy, hot air, really bad air quality. almost 100 when we came in tonight. as the extreme heat covers a huge area from kansas to new england, near-record highs are expected here in new york, philadelphia, d.c., bean town. abc s matt gutman reports though on the dangers of all this. reporter: at brigham and women s hospital in boston a near-record number of patients in e.r. most complain of dizziness, weakness, fatigue, and the heat will be playing a role in their particular acute or chronic illness. reporter: it s not just people being knocked out. infrastructure is taking a beating too. heat so intense it bent these union pacific rail lines as if they were made of rubber. cracked these building foundations in tulsa. and closed the crown of the statue of liberty. it s not just blistering during the day. nearly 100 cities tied
millions. to see just how that works we went to the jefferson sleep disorder center. i had my vitals taken. 98.1. reporter: and went outside to cook. 134 degrees. i m sweating. let s go back in. 98.4. reporter: i m fitted with electrodes. people when they re exposed to a lot of heat, when it s really hot outside, they tend to wake up more, they tend to arouse. reporter: that s because when the body sleeps air core temperatures have to cool down. if you re overheated your body won t cool and your sleep is disturbed. cooling off hasn t been easy. here in philadelphia they crushed into municipal pools by the thousands. matt gutman, abc news. now the warning signs for heat-related illnesses. they re not too difficult to see. as matt mentioned insomnia can be a problem during a heat wave like this one. abc s medical editor dr. richard besser has some guidance. this is really important. listen to this. in 10 to 15 minutes if you ve stopped sweating your body temperature can g