Thursday, July 22, 1999
Heat will stick around
No relief seen before Monday
BY PHILLIP PINA and ERIN GIBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Tristaters who sweated through another scorcher Wednesday had better get used to it.
The sweltering conditions that prompted the city of Cincinnati to declare a heat emergency Wednesday will remain at least through the weekend. It is the second heat emergency so far this summer. There were two in all of 1998.
At 4:25 p.m. Wednesday, temperatures reached 94 degrees at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. The humidity made it feel more like 102 degrees about that time. At Lunken Airport in the East End, the heat index peaked in the afternoon at 106 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Since July 1, there have been seven days when the heat index — what it feels like outside, factoring in the actual temperature and humidity — has reached at least 100 degrees.
Kyra McClelland lives in an Over-the-Rhine apartment with no air conditioning. She has one fan. As the sun baked the city about noon Wednesday, she and a few of her neighbors sought relief on the stoop of their 15th Street apartment.
“That fan is blowing nothing but hot air,” said the 22-year-old Ms. McClelland. She keeps a bottle of water chilled in her freezer that she uses to squirt her face and neck.
Summers in Cincinnati can be uncomfortable, but these past few weeks have been unbearable, she said.
“At these levels the health and safety of the community require that residents be aware and responsive to risks to prolonged exposure to heat and to undue physical exertion,” said Cincinnati Health Commissioner Dr. Malcolm Adcock.
The city declares a heat emergency when the heat index reaches 95 or above two days in a row. A heat alert is usually declared first, said Judith Daniels, medical director of the Cincinnati Health Department. This time, an emergency was declared first because nighttime temperatures stayed higher than forecasted.
Under the heat alert, the city opened its designated cooling centers, mostly recreation centers, to offer relief to residents. To find a center or its hours of operation, call 352-4001.
Under a heat emergency, city officials also monitordeath reports, emergency room visits and rescue runs. Temperatures are monitored in non-air-conditioned apartment buildings and senior citizen residential buildings. Horse-drawn carriages are pulled from downtown streets to protect the animals.
As of Wednesday night, there had been no major reports of heat related problems in the city, Dr. Adcock said.
Cloud coverage Tuesday and Wednesday morning allowed the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services to call off a smog alert for Wednesday. But smoggy conditions were expected to return today and the smog alert has been reinstated for today and Friday, said Sarah Brugger, department spokeswoman.
Meanwhile, Ms. McClelland wasn't alone in seeking relief from the heat Wednesday. Chod Hobbs of the Covington Parks and Recreation Department said the Northern Kentucky city's pools brought in extra staff to cover large crowds.
Graeter's has seen an increase in sales of sorbet over the past few days, said Dick Graeter, executive vice president of the ice cream parlor chain.
And all those fans and air conditioners are using up a lot of power. Cinergy recorded an all-time high demand for energy Wednesday.Usage reached a peak of 10,825 megawatts in the afternoon, said Kathy Meinke, Cinergy spokeswoman. That eclipsed the old record, last summer.
Outdoors, there is no escaping the heat. About 400 people are working on the new Bengals stadium, which faces a tight August 2000 deadline.
“In this kind of heat, the big thing is consuming water,” said Brooke Hill, stadium project spokeswoman.
The past few days, a person has been assigned to deliver water constantly to workers, Ms. Hill said. That means getting water to those in towering cranes, as well as those pouring cement throughout the huge project. And an on-site nurse is watching conditions, making sure workers get the relief they need.
At least one worksite has altered its schedule to escape the weather. About 40 people working on the cleanup of the former uranium processing plant in Fernald had their day shifts switched to nighttime hours the past few days, said Harry Richardson, business agent for the Laborers union Local 265.
“Would you want to be out in that heat?” Mr. Richardson asked.
The heat will likely remain in the Tristate for a while, said Allen Randall, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington. A ridge of high pressure has settled over the Ohio Valley, bringing the moist warm temperatures to the region.
Humid temperatures in the low-to-mid 90s are forecast at least through Monday.
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