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The delays forced the cancellation of some performances.

The president downplayed the intense heat in a social media post Saturday afternoon.

"Despite the heat, which isn't as bad as predicted, the crowds in D.C. are INCREDIBLE," he said.

The preliminary high temperature in Washington, D.C., Saturday was 102 -- making it the hottest July Fourth on record for the city, according to ABC News' meteorologists. This breaks the previous record high of 100 degrees set on July 4, 1919.