The northeastern United States sweltered this week in a scorching summer heat wave, complete with stagnant, sticky air and no winds for relief, forecasters said. Even in a summer already filled with stretches of very hot weather, this week will be stubbornly brutal, with no relief in sight until the weekend brings thunderstorms to the region, they said. "Plain and simple, this week may feel the worst of any week for this summer in the Northeast," said Accuweather.com meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. (Reuters)

This photo provided by NASA shows a full moon rising behind the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft onboard at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41, Sunday, November 17, 2013, Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA's next Mars-bound spacecraft, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/AP Photo/NASA)

A large storm cloud covers the Sydney CBD on March 5, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the Sydney metropolitan area late this afternoon with heavy rainfall due to cause flash flooding in areas. (Photo by Cassie Trotter/Getty Images)

A view motorists have grown accustomed seeing, a military truck made by Oshkosh Corp. is taken for a test drive Thursday, April 11, 2013 in Oshkosh, Wis. Faced with deep cuts in U.S. military spending, and the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Oshkosh Corp. is laying off 900 employees in its defense division based in Oshkosh. Approximately 700 hourly workers at the state's largest manufacturer will lose their jobs in mid-June, followed by approximately 200 salaried employees through July. (Photo by Mark Hoffman via The Journal Sentinel)

Felipe Dana discovered photography at age 15 when he started working as an assistant for event and commercial photographers. At the close of 2009, he decided to focus his career solely on photojournalism. Dana has focused his work on documenting the consequences of social changes in slums due to upcoming major sports events scheduled for 2014 and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, where he currently lives and works as a staff photographer for The Associated Press. Photo: A model wears a creation from the Triya summer collection during Fashion Rio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, April 19, 2013. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

The sea leopard. The Antarctic Peninsula. (Photo by Paul Nicklen)

Soldiers from 12 Mechanized Brigade perform a simulated casualty evacuation at the Ministry of Defence training area at Copehill Down on Salisbury Plain on March 9, 2012 in Wiltshire, England. The Defence Secretary Philip Hammond visited the military facility to meet soldiers from the Brigade who are shortly to deploy to Afghanistan for Operation Herrick 16, and troops from the 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire regiment which lost five of the six men who died this week in the deadliest single attack in Afghanistan since 2001. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Satirical sculptures burn during the traditional Fallas festival in Valencia, Spain, on March 19, 2014. Every year the city celebrates the ancient “Las Fallas” fiesta, a noisy week that is full of fireworks and processions in honor of Saint Joseph that ends on midnight of March 19, burning large satiric figures displayed around the streets of the city. (Photo by Alberto Saiz/Associated Press)