Highways buckled across the country, the waters of Lake Michigan were unusually warm for this time of year and even a minor train derailment outside Washington was blamed on heat as the hot weather gripping much of the country only worsened Saturday.
Temperatures of more than 100 degrees were forecast in Philadelphia and excessive heat warnings were issued for several states in the Midwest as the days of smothering heat piled on, accompanied by severe storms that have knocked out power in spots from Michigan to the East Coast.
Most notable was last weekend's sudden and severe storm that drenched the mid-Atlantic region, where thousands remained without electricity a week later.
At least 24 deaths have been blamed on the heat and several others on the weather or a combination of the two. Hundreds of thousands remained without power Saturday, mostly in West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan.
