Chief Meteorologist Beverly Perry

The Fall/Autumnal Equinox is TODAY at 2:19 PM EDT. That's the time at which our Sun is directly over the Earth's equator, signaling the start of the Northern Hemisphere's astronomical fall. The Earth’s northern hemisphere will continue to tilt further from the sun through the Winter Solstice on December 21 this year.

Though record high temperatures are expected in the coming days, the duration of the heat as demonstrated by the numerous record warm morning lows will make this period especially oppressive. Couple this with the fact that this is the first major heat wave of the year – when our bodies aren't acclimated to the heat yet – will make for an especially dangerous period for many. Check for your latest local forecast at weather.gov, and wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/heatrisk for daily HeatRisk forecasts.