Sweltering Midwest heat cancels outdoor plans as cooling centers open
and the East braces
[June 30, 2026]
By HANNAH FINGERHUT and KATHY McCORMACK
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Summer camps and other outdoor activities were
canceled Monday as tens of millions of people across the Midwest endured
a heat wave that is expected to spread eastward this week. Communities
opened cooling centers and urged people to take it easy and stay
hydrated.
Forty-seven million people across big chunks of the Midwest and parts of
the Ohio Valley are under an extreme heat warning through at least
Tuesday. Temperatures are forecast to reach the 90s, with heat index
values, or “feels-like” temperatures, expected to top 100 degrees (37.8
degrees Celsius) in the region, according to the National Weather
Service.
Visiting Des Moines with family, Rachel Washburn searched for things to
do with kids during a heat wave. They landed at a water sprayground
before lunch Monday, where her children played tag in the cool water.
“My kids were quite shocked at the heat and humidity,” said Washburn of
her seven children ages 18 months to 17 who had been used to more
temperate weather farther north in Bemidji, Minnesota. “We were hoping
for some good weather, but we'll make do.”
About 56 million Americans are under an extreme heat watch as hot and
humid weather is expected to move farther east later in the week, with
some of the worst conditions expected by Thursday and Friday in the Ohio
Valley, the Mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast. Some areas could
experience record-high temperatures, said Scott Kleebauer, a
meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center in College Park,
Maryland.
On Monday, cities and event planners were already announcing adjustments
for or calling off events later in the week, including a farmer's market
scheduled for Tuesday in DeWitt, Michigan; a movie screening Wednesday
in Fairfield, Ohio; and Thursday’s food truck festival in Warwick, New
York.
The heat wave will also likely coincide with the Fourth of July holiday
weekend, providing additional risk as more people have cookouts or watch
fireworks outside for the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Kleebauer said the center recommends people stay hydrated and ensure
access to shady areas and air conditioning.
Emergency workers were out in Nashville on Monday to offer water and
check on people during the hottest time of the day.
Mike Russell, a captain at the Nashville Office of Emergency Management,
said he saw many empty areas where people typically sleep outside, which
he said was a good sign that they found someplace cool to escape the
heat for a while.
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Children play at a water sprayground in Des Moines, Iowa, Monday,
June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Hannah Fingerhut)
Logan King, 29, brought a cart to fill up on cold water and snacks
when the emergency workers came out to a patch of woods behind a
Walmart where he and others sleep outside. The trees where people
have pitched tents offer some cover from the direct sun, but not
much relief.
“It’s just miserable honestly, but this helps so much,” King said.
“Even with the shade and a tent ... it gets hot."
Extreme heat has also taken its toll in Europe, where temperature
records were set and many heat-related deaths were reported in
France.
People can be caught off guard by the first heat wave of the year,
said Dr. Roy Elrod, chief of staff at DMC Detroit Receiving
Hospital.
“You’re happy winter’s gone, you’re ready to enjoy the summer,
you’ve just been aching for it,” Elrod said. “And so, I think we
slip into kind of a position where we think it’s got to be OK.”
Heat-related injuries can happen in a matter of minutes, he said,
especially to those who don’t prepare for the weather by hydrating,
wearing light clothing, avoiding the hottest times of the day and
minimizing exposure to the sun.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison said it was closing 23 buildings
to the public starting Tuesday, allowing only limited access to 11
others. It was relocating some summer classes after a broken water
line at its cooling plant earlier this month severely reduced the
ability to provide air conditioning across campus.
Temperatures approaching 90 degrees and high humidity didn’t stop
Toni Kreutzer, 28, from taking a walk Monday along the shores of
Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin, with her 13-year-old dog
Chester.
“I like it hot,” Kreutzer said. "I just don’t like the humidity."
___
McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press
reporters Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, Kristin M. Hall in
Nashville and Haya Panjwani in Washington, D.C., contributed.
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