In this Sunday, April 6, 2014 photo, Valery Palma prepares to blow out the candle on a birthday cake for her one-year-old dachshund Camila, at Camila's birthday party in Mexico City. Palma, who has two dogs, spent $300 on the birthday party for 11 canines and 16 people, complete with cake, presents and snacks, at a dog hotel featuring a gym and massage and aromatherapy services. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

A decorated elephant march at the Navam Perahera, a Buddhist pageant of elephants, dancers and drummers, in Colombo February 3, 2015. Over 50 elephants participated in the street parade for Gangaramaya temple's annual Perahera festival, along with a nightly procession of traditional dancers, fire twirlers and traditional musicians. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

Swimmers take part in the annual Christmas Day swim in Porthcawl, Wales, England on December 25, 2019. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images)

A demonstrator jumps from a vehicle of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) during a protest to demand what protesters say is true information from the OSCE about the shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine (since April 2014, the city is the administrative centre of the Donetsk People's Republic), July 23, 2015. The graffiti reads, “Stop moronic war!”. (Photo by Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

Paramasivan points to the statue of sun god Surya at a temple outside the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, India, February 5, 2017. In the early morning darkness, Devendran P. walks up a hill to a solar observatory in India's southern hill town of Kodaikanal, trudging the same path his father and grandfather walked in a century-old family tradition of studying the sun. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

White House Communications Director and presidential advisor Hope Hicks arrives at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center February 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. Hicks is scheduled to testify behind closed doors to the House Intelligence Committee in its ongoing investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Lesser Horned Owl (Bubo magellanicus) is seen at the meadows of Patagonian valley in Santa Cruz, Argentina on December 21, 2024. Lesser Horned Owl is a large owl of the genus Bubo found in southern South America, with its distinctive “horns”, black-rimmed face and heavily striped abdomen. (Photo by Mehmet Emin Yogurtcuoglu/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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)