Jennifer Edwards Baker reports:
The National Weather Service in Wilmington also has issued an excessive heat advisory covering Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky. An advisory means the heat index in those areas will hit 100 to 104.
Anyone who is outdoors for an extended period of time should wear loose clothing, drink plenty of water and take plenty of breaks under shade.
Sensitive groups, including the elderly, children and those with respiratory problems, should remain indoors as much as possible between noon and 8 p.m., according to the weather service.
The mercury soared to 96 on Tuesday at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, five degrees shy of the previous record on that date of 101 degrees in 1887, said meteorologist Allen Randall.
Dayton shattered their previous record with a high of 99 degrees, just over the old one of 98 in 1936.
A break in the blistering hot weather is coming by way of a slow-moving cold front pushing down from Michigan across the Ohio River tonight and early Thursday.
The front is bringing increasing chances for thunderstorms tonight through Friday, when high temperatures will fall back into the upper 80s.
The forecast from the National Weather Service is predicting a 60 percent chance for storms between 4 and 9 p.m. Wednesday and a 70 percent chance of rain Thursday afternoon. There will also be chance for showers Thursday night and on Friday.
