By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 6:46 PM on 23rd July 2011 Americans sweltered in the scorching heat today as temperature records continued to fall across the country. Friday was officially the hottest day of the year in scores of cities across the country as the heatwave covered a million square miles, affecting 141million Americans. New York's Manhattan experienced the hottest ever July 22 recorded, with an overwhelming 104-degree temperature in Central Park. The Washington DC region continued to be smothered in heat and humidity with temperatures reaching 102 degrees but with a heat index of more than 120 - hotter than Death Valley at daybreak.
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Temperatures to hit triple-figures across the Northeast
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Newark, NJ, hottest place on East Coast at 108F
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Heat wave has claimed 24 lives so far
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Cities warned to expect power cuts across weekend as firms struggle with demand
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Scores of cities swelter in highest-ever temperatures
peaked at @placeholder, the highest ever recorded since records began in 1931 and