PHILADELPHIA — Heat and humidity draped the Northeast for yet another day today, pushing electric utilities to crank up power and keeping the mercury hovering around 100 from Virginia to New Hampshire.

The crux of the deadly heat was situated over the Philadelphia area, where an excessive heat warning was put into effect until 8 p.m. The National Weather Service said high humidity levels could make it feel as hot as Tuesday, when temperatures topped 100.

Standing in line for breakfast at a food truck in downtown Philadelphia, retail store manager Adam Collina, 45, sounded resigned.

"It looks like this is something we're going to have to get used to," he said. "If you figure out a way to do that, let me know," he added with a laugh.

It was already 71 degrees, hazy and humid before 7 a.m. today at a golf course in suburban Albany, N.Y., where gardener Sarah Breglia was bracing for another sweltering work day. She said her strategy was to drink lots of fluids and rely on water stations scattered around the Guilderland golf course.

Scattered power outages have affected customers up and down the coast and usage approached record levels.

In the Washington, D.C., area, nearly 2,000 customers were without power today, while New Jersey's largest utility, Public Service Electric & Gas, reported about 6,500 customers without electricity. Consolidated Edison in New York said it was working to restore power to about 6,300 customers, down from outages to 18,700 customers Tuesday.

The heat also hampered train travel and forced nursing homes with power problems to evacuate. On New York's Long Island, the Red Cross said local merchants would help to distribute free bottled water to day laborers.

Transportation officials cut the speed of commuter trains in suburban Washington, D.C., and New York when the tracks got too hot. Extreme heat can cause welded rails to bend under pressure. Some train service to New Jersey was canceled.

Rail riders in New Jersey and Maryland were advised to expect delays again today. Philadelphia's transit system said it was slowing trains to reduce the amount of electricity needed to run them.

In Park Ridge, N.J., police evacuated a nursing home and rehabilitation center after an electrical line burned out Tuesday evening.