Parts of the East Coast and Midwest are on alert Wednesday for unseasonably hot weather. 

Temperatures climbed to 103 degrees in the city of Minneapolis on Tuesday, setting a 23-year record high.

"The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a dangerous situation in which heat illnesses are possible," the National Weather Service warned in a bulletin. 

"Stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors," agency officials said.     

The severe Minneapolis heat appears to be headed for the New England area, even though the official start of summer is still about two weeks away.

"It's so hot that the devil stopped me and asked me for a ride. It's just that hot," said one UPS driver.

For some, laughter is the only break from the unseasonable heat wave that has Philadelphia schools shutting down early so students can try to beat the scorching heat.

"Tomorrow sounds like it's going to be a killer," Washington, D.C. tourist David Alumbaugh said.
 
The heat is causing problems for roads in the Midwest as city streets are buckling from Minnesota to Mississippi.

"It's usually on a joint where two pieces have come together, usually is where it happens," said John Hollis of the La Crosse County, Wis. Highway Department.

Forecasters predict the heat emergency could last for days.

Meanwhile, as temperatures climb above 100 degrees, so does the number of calls to Minnesota air conditioner repair shops.

"We can't answer the phones fast enough. That's the way it goes right now," K&S Heating and Air's Bryan Hanson said.
    
The temperature in Chicago is expected to hit 97 degrees on Wednesday - the hottest it has been in the Windy City since 2006.

And it's a one-two-punch for Sioux City, Iowa where residents still dealing floods will now have to contend with the heat as well.

"It makes it really hard because we're out here all the time sandbagging," Iowa flood volunteer Taylor Mattison said.