CNN: Extreme Temperatures Close ‘Great American State Fair’ in D.C. as Heat Index on National Mall Exceeds 110°F

EXCERPT:

VAN DAM: “That‘s the big question, Dana. I don‘t believe that the heat is going to give any kind of sign of relaxing in the next couple of hours. I would be very surprised if they allowed people back into the fairgrounds, because the temperature now is hotter than when they canceled it around 1 PM earlier today. This is the National Mall. This is supposed to be filled with thousands of people. It was this morning, the Great American Fair celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country, birthday of our country. There‘s the Capitol Building behind us, but it was at just after the moment when the flyovers took place here that an announcement came on the loudspeakers here, rushing people out the door because the heat was too extreme. They postponed until 5 PM and for good reason too. The heat index where I‘m standing right now is 113 degrees. The actual air temperature 101. Do you see the shade that we‘re in? This is the proposed Trump arch, right? And people were jockeying for space around this area earlier today because this is quite literally the only shade that is available within the Great American State Fair on the National Mall. So, let‘s walk this way. I‘ve been using this as kind of a diagram of what is experienced here on the ground. This is a digital thermometer, and we can point it at various things. Look at that reading there. It‘s tough to see that maybe on television, but the black tar surface, 127 degrees, that is miserable.”