City, region in grip of heat, humidity

Mitch Crawford, a teacher on summer break from St. John's High School, plays in the sand Monday with his daughter Addison, 6, at Maumee Bay State Park.. THE BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge | Photo Reprints

A group of boys finds respite in the Mystic River, in eastern Connecticut. Beaches across the region were jammed Monday as temperatures neared dangerous levels. SEAN D. ELLIOT / AP Enlarge

Toledoans went for wind and water Monday as temperatures climbed into the mid-90s.

The National Weather Service put Lucas County under a hazardous weather outlook Monday; high temperatures combined with dew points in the upper 60s pushed the heat index into the mid to upper 90s.

The temperature steadily climbed throughout the day, reaching the 80s by 9 a.m. and maxing out at 93 degrees by late afternoon.

Forecasters predict mid-90s daytime temperatures locally through Thursday, with a high of 96 Tuesday.

It is expected to be even hotter in many parts of the United States.

In the mid-Atlantic states, high temperatures of up to 102 degrees are expected Tuesday. It could be just as hot tomorrow, but with more humidity.

Monday, temperatures reached into at least the 90s from Maine to Texas and into the Southwest and Death Valley in southern California.

Although conditions in the Toledo area did not pass the threshold for a heat advisory, meteorologists urged staying out of the sun and drinking plenty of fluids. But hundreds capitalized on the Monday holiday by heading into the sun, flocking to the Maumee Bay State Park beach.

Six-year-old Addison Crawford said the bay is a nice place to be when temperatures are rising.

"It's less hot because you're in the cold water," Addison said as she built a sand castle.

Other beach-goers agreed that swimming is their first choice when it is hot outside.

Jamie Porter, 31, said that although she can handle the heat, Monday's humidity was harder to endure.

Other Toledoans made do with what respite they could find on their front porches.

Brittany Ogle, 22, stayed outside her house, which has one small air conditioning unit. She said the way she beats the heat is to "wait for a breeze."

Toledo resident Jerome Robinson, 13, sat on his front porch with his family and wielded a water gun. He said he liked the heat because, "we can get wet."

"We dry off in the sun, then we have a picnic," 8-year-old Charles Robinson, Jerome's cousin, said. "We're going to the pool tomorrow."

Toledo's four public junior pools were open Monday.

Sarah Otis, vice president of child development at the Toledo YMCA, said YMCA camp counselors are careful to keep children safe when the weather gets hot.

"We do a lot of water play and make sure there's a lot of water intake," Ms. Otis said. "Every day we monitor it very closely."

Kirk Lombardy, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Cleveland, said that the weather service would not issue a heat advisory until the heat index reached 100 degrees for two hours or more.

An excessive heat warning is issued when the heat index reaches 105 for two hours or more.

"There's a high pressure center pretty much over the Carolinas," Mr. Lombardy said, explaining the sudden high temperatures. "Typically when that happens you start pumping up humid air from the south and southwest."

He added that issuing a heat advisory later in the week was still a possibility for Lucas County.

The National Weather Service predicts mid-90s daytime temperatures for the area through Thursday, with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms on Thursday afternoon.

Temperatures should drop to the mid-80s on Friday.

Locally, Williams, Defiance, Paulding, Van Wert, Fulton, Henry, Putnam, and Allen counties were under a heat advisory Monday.

Brian Korty, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Camp Springs, Md., emphasized the heat's danger.

"As the temperature and humidity both get higher, the stress it can put on the human body increases," he said, "and therefore the higher the temperature and higher the humidity, the greater the chance of people having problems."

The long holiday weekend aided utilities by lowering demand for power, said Lissette Santana, a spokesman for PPL Electric Utilities in Allentown, Pa.

Demand is anticipated to increase when offices reopen, said Bob McGee, spokesman for Consolidated Edison in New York. He said Con Ed was preparing for peak usage to break the record set on Aug. 2, 2006.

In Washington, the heat didn't stop hearty tourists from exploring the city on the final day of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall.

Ben Mullen just returned from Iraq, "so he's really used to it," said his wife, Stephanie Mullen. The upstate New York couple planned to walk by the White House and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

"We just told each other we'll go slow, and if we get too tired, we'll go back to the hotel and go sit by the pool," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Greta Stetson at:

gstetson@theblade.com

or 419-724-6050.