PHOTO GALLERY: Extreme June heat brings little relief

Jalen Clemons, 7, creates a rainbow while cooling off in the spray of a fire hydrant near Westgate Park on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. He and fellow members of the Westgate Recreation Camp were taking turns getting sprayed as the city opened several hydrants on the 100-degree day.   |  CHRIS RUSSELL/The Columbus Dispatch

Evelyn Wood fans herself as relief from the heat as her daughter Sherri Smith, right, both of Wichita Falls, Texas, applies a cold towel as they celebrate Wood's 80th birthday Friday in Washington, where temperatures reached the upper 90s.   |  DAVID GOLDMAN/The Associated Press

From left, construction workers Santiago Gomez, Jorge Moreno, Abel Lozano take a break from the extreme heat during a road construction project in downtown Chicago on Thursday. Temperatures in the city were expected to reach 96 Thursday with little relief expected in the next few days.   |  SITTHIXAY DITTHAVONG/The Associated Press

Antwane Grey, with Diamond Cut Lawn Care Services, wipes his face with his shirt as he works outside the offices of Aggregate Industries in Spotsylvania County, Va. on Friday. Temperatures hovered at 100 degrees.   |  REZA A. MARVASHTI/The Free Lance-Star

Herbert Coleman does his best to beat the heat on his front porch in the Orange Mound area of Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday.   |  MIKE MAPLE/The Commercial Appeal

Richard Rader wipes sweat from his brow while selling vegetables from a roadside stand on Walnut Avenue in Vinton, Va., on Friday as afternoon temperatures climbed toward 100 degrees.   |  SAM DEAN/The Roanake Times