Heat Wave

Temperatures hit 100 at the Custom House in Baltimore yesterday, marking the seventh day of a heat wave that has claimed the life of a city woman.It was the state's first heat-related death since the summer of 1995.More hot weather is expected today, though temperatures are not expected to rise beyond the low 90s. And the humidity should remain low, forecasters said yesterday.A relative of Dorothy Mae Jefferson, 62, of the 800 block of N. Rose St. in East Baltimore found her body at 7: 20 a.m. Wednesday, a spokesman for the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said yesterday.

LONDON - Europe continued to bake yesterday under a relentless heat wave that has sparked fires, dried up rivers and killed at least 38 people. Cooler weather brought some relief, but with Paris expected to top 100 degrees today and tomorrow - and similar temperatures forecast for Portugal, Spain and elsewhere - meteorologists warned that the blistering heat could continue through September. In Belgium, morning rain kept the temperature from hitting the record 104 degrees that had been forecast.

Every winter, weather broadcasters love to end their forecasts with something cheerful like, "But at least we're not in International Falls, Minn., where today's low was a bone-chilling 43 below zero."Few, however, ever check in with International Falls in the summer. That's not the way Schadenfreude works.Well, eat your hearts out, everyone in the orange swathes of the weather map: Today's high in International Falls will be between 60 and 65 degrees. We'll spare you the low. (Oh, what the heck: mid- to upper 40s)

Just five days after record cold and damaging frost had Marylanders pleading for a better springtime deal from the weatherman, the thermometer yesterday rebounded into the 90s. It was headed toward the 100-degree mark today and a heat record.Jose Marrero, a National Weather Service forecaster, looked at his instruments at Baltimore-Washington International Airport yesterday and issued this weather statement: "It's definitely hot.""We're calling it the first heat wave of the year," he said.

Maryland's miserable heat wave -- with triple-digit temperatures statewide yesterday and a high of 102 degrees seared into the record books at Baltimore-Washington International Airport -- will continue today.Today's forecast calls for hazy sunshine, stifling humidity and temperatures ranging between 100 and 105 degrees.The heat index, a measure that combines air temperature and humidity to give an indication of how hot it feels, is expected to hit 115 degrees. The average early summer high temperature in Baltimore is 87 degrees.

Coming off a cold winter and an exceptionally rainy spring, Marylanders celebrated a mostly dry Fourth of July holiday weekend - but had to cope with the first severe heat wave of the year, which sent temperatures soaring into the 90s for a third straight day yesterday. The high temperatures had many in the area scrambling out of the sun and into the shade, and they were not broken until last night, when severe thunderstorms and high winds rolled eastward across Maryland, knocking down trees and disrupting power to thousands of homes.

Maryland's first heat wave of the year hasn't set any records in Baltimore yet, but you wouldn't know that by the laboring air conditioners and perspiring people.The official temperature hit 94 degrees at Baltimore-Washington International Airport just before 5 p.m. yesterday, one degree shy of the 95-degree record set in 1962.But by any measure, it was hot. Temperatures taken at the Custom House downtown were unavailable because of an equipment breakdown. Unofficial thermometers in the city read 97 degrees and above.

A heat wave is the kids going to bed sweaty because you let them chase after fireflies in their underwear. A heat wave is sleeping on top of the sheets and under the fan. A heat wave is getting your morning caffeine fix from iced coffee. A heat wave is feeling like a wuss because you drank iced coffee. A heat wave is sweating even though the air conditioner is on high, because the sun is glaring in on your side of the car. A heat wave is some cheesy DJ playing "The Heat Is On" by Glenn Frey.

Vicente Fox for president! Good news for Al. The Fed declared victory and went home. If all those politicians who brag about praying really do it, they ought to pray for rain in the West. Central Maryland was spared the heat wave that fried the South and the deluge that drowned North Jersey. Our time will come. Are there no Tiger tamers?

Don't look now but the Asian slowdown is coming in on the back of the heat wave.They didn't subpoena the Secret Service in Watergate and Iran-contra because those investigations were not as vital to the safety of the republic as what Bill did with Monica.Bubba Gump Shrimp is for Bawlimerns. Real tourists eat crab.Cheer up. General Abubakar promises elections next year.Pub Date: 7/22/98