“Temperatures are usually this high in July or August,” Mike Griffin, weekend meteorologist at KCEN-TV, said. For today, he said, “I am forecasting a high of 99 degrees.”
The mercury will continue to climb up the thermometer and we will maintain temperatures in the high 90s during the early part of this week.
Central Texas temperatures are flying about five to seven degrees above average for this time of year, Griffin said.
Temperatures are always taken in the shade to add uniformity to reporting of weather. Add the heat index to that and you are looking at about 105 degrees, he said. “Standing in direct sunlight can add 20 degrees to the temperature.”
When it is extremely hot, if you can find some place to go that has air conditioning that can help, especially if your place does not have air conditioning,” Thomas Pechal Temple Fire and Rescue, public information officer, said. The library, the mall, Sammons Community Center and Friendship House are a few of the places where people can go just to stay cool and beat the heat.
“If you have an elderly neighbor next door, you can check on them,” Pechal said, “Make sure they are doing OK, especially if they are counting pennies and may not be running air conditioning.”
Pechal said a fan may only be moving hot air around but moving the air around is better than nothing. Dr. John Joseph, with the Family Medicine Department at Scott & White Memorial Hospital, recommends spraying down with water, which will act to cool the body. “You can spray your body down and sit in front of a fan to help stay cool,” he said.
For the average healthy person the easiest way to know you are getting enough fluids is to check your urine. “I am also a soccer coach and that is what I tell my players - if your urine is clear you are getting enough fluids.”
If you are thirsty, you have already started to dehydrate,” he added. “The first signs are usually muscle cramps and spasms in the legs and arms. That’s because of the loss of water and also loss of salt from sweating so much. They are called heat cramps. They can progress to heat exhaustion.
“When someone is suffering from heat exhaustion they become dehydrated and their blood pressure can actually decrease because they have lost so much fluid. They start becoming dizzy, kind of nauseated - the body is not cooling properly. They will sweat a lot and get a headache.
“In heat stroke, the worse form, the body has lost the mechanisms for cooling. People with heat stroke may stop sweating all together,” he said.
There are a few checks you can do to ensure your child is hydrated.
“In babies, make sure the lips are moist - any mucous membrane - both the lips or the eyelids can be checked to ensure they are moist.
“Another check is to gently pinch the skin, it should just bounce back to where it was – if it stays there then you may be dehydrated,” he said.
According to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, it takes just 15 minutes for a car sitting in the sun in 100-degree heat to reach 140 degrees inside.
“Don’t leave children or animals in cars not attended - not for a minute,” Joseph said. Even going in to pay for gas and leaving a child or pet in the car is too long.
“Stay in the shade, stay out of direct sunlight. Try and get chores done before the heat of the day,” he said, “Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. is the hottest parts of the day. If you can, avoid going outside.
“A human’s sense of thirst isn’t very well developed,” he said, “So by the time you are thirsty you are already dehydrated. Water is by far the most important thing to drink. Second to that would be the sports drinks, Gatorade, Powerade - anything like that. Water is the best. If you are involved in strenuous activity, then make sure you drink plenty of fluids before you start.
“Things to be avoided are alcohol and caffeine. They can actually make things worse because they cause dehydration, they act as a diuretic, which causes people to lose more fluid,” he said.
If you are outside, wear a wide-brim hat and drink water.
For those with limited resources the Temple Help Center can assist with getting a fan if you do not have one in your residence. “The help center will process the application and the fans are then forwarded to Temple Fire and Rescue. The fans are provided by Firefighters Association Local 846,” Pechal said.
Prevention is the best cure, Joseph said. Make sure your fluid intakes are up during the hot days. “The least amount of water a person should be drinking is 64 ounces a day,”Joseph said.
