Don't touch that air conditioner off button!

The record-setting heat that is gripping the Baltimore area is expected to continue the rest of the week with temperatures possibly topping 100 degrees.

The state health department issued a "heat watch" alert to warn of dangers posed by the hot weather -- particularly to the elderly and the very young -- and the Maryland Department of the Environment issued a "code red" advisory of unhealthful levels of ozone, the primary component of urban smog.

A westerly breeze was blamed yesterday for a few extra degrees of heat -- enough on an already-hot afternoon to push temperatures to record readings in Baltimore and at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the National Weather Service said.

The mercury topped out at 99 in the city at 4:25 p.m., breaking by 1 degree the record for June 14 set in 1988. The airport temperature hit 98 at 4:10 p.m., breaking the record of 95 set in 1956.

Humidity made the day seem even hotter, combining with the high temperatures to produce a heat index of more than 105.