Joy Bennett, 6, of Ann Arbor beats the brutal heat by playing in the front yard sprinkler at her home on Ann Arbor's west side.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

Heat advisory warnings emanated from the radio as Autumn Rae stood over a hot griddle, tending to hot dogs and brats on South State Street near the University of Michigan Diag.

To beat the 90-plus-degree heat, she stayed under her stand’s big umbrella and pulled her hair back. “I drink as much water as my body can hold,” said Rae, wearing a sundress and big shades.

After working all week in the heat, Rae is looking forward to an expected break this weekend, when showers and thunderstorms should bust the sweltering temperatures and stifling humidity that moved into Ann Arbor this week.

Residents on the East Coast have it even worse. Philadelphia hit 100 degrees for second straight day Wednesday, breaking a record of 98 degrees set in 1999. Baltimore hit 100 for the third straight day and Newark, N.J., hit triple digits for the fourth straight day. New York's Central Park was at 99 degrees at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

A cold front moving east from Iowa should bring rain to the area by Thursday afternoon, continuing through Friday, said Dennis Kahlbaum, a University of Michigan weather observer. Through the weekend, temperatures should stay in the low- to mid-80s, he said.

Hot dog vendor Autumn Rae is pictured at the entrance to the University of Michigan Diag Wednesday afternoon just before calling it quits for the day shortly after 2 p.m. "It's too hot." Rae said. "People don't want to eat when it gets this hot."

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

Temperatures reached the 90s in the Ann Arbor area for four days in a row this week and prompted the National Weather Service to issue a heat advisory in effect until 6 a.m. Thursday. The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments declared Wednesday as the first "Ozone Action" day of the year.

It may be hot, but today's 94-degree weather didn’t break records, Kahlbaum said. The record for today was 100 degrees, set in 1988, while for July 2-10, highs ranged from 100 to 102 degrees.

The Washtenaw County Department of Public Health has urged residents to avoid the outdoors between noon and 3 p.m. when possible - especially children and the elderly.

The county hasn’t opened up cooling centers, though the Delonis Center, 312 W. Huron St., makes a cooling area available whenever the temperature soars past 90.

Those without air conditioning should try to get someplace cool like the public library, mall, or a neighbor, friend or relative’s home, said Cindra James, emergency preparedness coordinator for the county Public Health Department. James also urged residents to check in on those who are elderly or disabled.

The Washtenaw County chapter of the American Red Cross is working to promote its safety tips in the heat, said communications director Julie Dean, urging residents to drink more water and avoid caffeine and alcohol, and be conscious of the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, the latter of which is a life-threatening condition when the person’s temperature control mechanism just stops working.

Meanwhile, those who can’t avoid the heat are doing all they can to stay cool.

Ken Platt, a foreman on the North Quad Residential and Academic Complex construction site, oversaw a crew of three workers installing an irrigation system on Wednesday afternoon, a job that requires a lot of physical labor.

“We usually just deal with it by trying to alter what our duties for the day are,” he said, “like trying to work in the shade.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Juliana Keeping is a reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter