Upper Midwest, East Coast Broil

A record-breaking heat wave continues to broil the upper Midwest and the East Coast.

Temperatures hit record highs in the upper 90s Tuesday from the “Nation’s Icebox,” International Falls, Minn. - with a reading Tuesday of 95 - to Baltimore at 96. It was the sixth consecutive day of record heat for International Falls, on the Canadian border; a weekend reading of 99 was the town’s all-time record.

Other records on the last full day of spring included 100 at Houghton Lake, Mich.; 93 in New York City; and 92 in Buffalo, N.Y.

Utilities reported new highs in electricity use, and water shortages prompted bans on sprinkling lawns in Michigan. Forest fires blazed in the hot air in parts of Canada and northern Minnesota.

Michigan’s Department of Public Health imposed an alternate-day watering ban beginning Tuesday for about 4 million people served by the Detroit area’s water system.

Detroit Edison Co. and Consumers Power Co. posted records Monday for one-hour electricity demand. Consumers Power said its customers used 6,580 megawatts of electricity, the highest in the utility’s 109-year history.

In northern Minnesota, which has a boundless supply of ice in the winter, ice is in such short supply that Gene Wallander in International Falls had to order 2,000 bags from Minneapolis-St. Paul.