Heat, hurricane fears to last for days

The blast furnace of summer continues, with yet another heat wave, another ozone alert, and more hurricane-related worries at the Shore.

Hurricane Earl, pounding parts of the Caribbean today, is expected to sweep past the Mid-Atlantic Coast starting Friday, with a chance of running into land anywhere from the Carolinas to New England.

For the next four days, the Philadelphia area is expected to see highs in the mid 90s, followed by 90 on Friday - with no rain in sight.

Such a stretch would bring the number of days of 90 or hotter at 51 - just two short of the record 53 set in 1991.

An orange alert for ozone has been issued today from Southeastern Pennsylvania to Baltimore and Washington. Sensitive groups - children, the elderly and those with breathing problems - should avoid strenuous activity, especially outdoors. For more, go to www.airnow.gov.

Although weekend temperatures look pleasant - in the mid 80s - projections put a strong Hurricane Earl off the Mid-Atlantic coast by then.

"Folks from the Carolinas northward through the Mid-Atlantic and New England need to be paying attention to Earl and the forecasts as they get updated through the week," said Michael Brennan of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

As of this morning, most of the projected paths keep Earl staying out at sea while passing the Atlantic Seaboard. Even if it does, the Shore could see riptides and rough surf all week, then possible showers and thunderstorms on Friday.

The western edge of the projected area, though, does overlap the coastline from North Carolina northward, starting Friday. (See map at right.)

Today, Earl was bringing sustained winds of 110 m.p.h. and heavy rain to the northeastern Caribbean, with hurricane warnings for many islands east of Puerto Rico, including Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, St. Maarten, the British Virgin Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Hurricane Danielle, which created rough surf and riptides as it traveled northward off the East Coast, has moved well out into northern Atlantic. For the latest hurricane information, go to the National Hurricane Center at www.nhc.noaa.gov.

For more on the local forecast, go to http://go.philly.com/weather.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.