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A swell-tering start to summer

By J. Miles Layton heraldstandard.Com 4 min read
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GEORGES TWP. — Beech’s Tavern owner Albert Seghi knows a little about hot days and cold beers.

To help his customers beat the heat, Seghi bought a new air conditioner at Reese’s Warehouse on Wednesday, the first day of summer, to replace an older unit. Temperatures this week have soared into the 90s.

Seghi described his bar as a type of place where customers know they have come out of the heat and into a cool place.

“Mine’s about done, so I’m getting another one before the other one goes,” he said, referring to the air conditioner. “People come to the bar trying get out of the heat don’t want to come into a hot bar after working all day. Better to have a cold bar — it helps keep the beer cold.”

The National Weather Service forecasts a heat wave through much of the Mid-Atlantic this week. Rihaan Gangat, a metereologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, said while the temperature in Uniontown topped out at 92 degrees on Wednesday, no records were broken.

However, Gangat said, record-breaking temperatures in the Morgantown, W.Va., area reached a high of 93 degrees, which ties the old record set in 1953.

Gangat said temperatures in Fayette County could reach 90 degrees again today.

Temperatures will drop into the lower 80s on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Gangat said while it was hot in Fayette County, the temperature in Death Valley, Calif., soared to around 115 degrees.

Alan Thompson, owner of Reese’s Warehouse, said more than 25 air conditioners have been sold within the past week.

“It’s been hot enough — everyone needs one,” he said.

Thompson said his family didn’t own an air conditioner as he was growing up in Fairchance, but he certainly has one now. Thompson said a lot people may be able to endure the heat during the day but not at night when they are trying to sleep.

“People can take the heat during the day, but that’s not so easy at night — that’s what sells these air conditioners,” he said.

Millicent Pierce of Carmichaels reminisced about her days as a school teacher as she browsed through the air conditioners at Reese’s Warehouse. Before Pierce retired, she was an elementary school teacher in the Southeastern Greene School District where she taught third grade. She said she had to rely on fans and freezer pops to help her students stay focused.

“It’s unbearable when it is hot in the classroom,” Pierce said.

Like Thompson, Pierce did not grow up with air conditioning or a fan, merely an open window that might capture a cool breeze.

“I remember all those sleepless nights,” Pierce said as she stood in front of a powerful air conditioning unit that blasted an arctic breeze.

Dr. Jeffrey Frye, medical director of the emergency department at Uniontown Hospital, said during the past week he has seen many cases of dehydration. He cautions people to drink plenty of fluids to stay healthy.

“Everyone of the people thought they drank a ton of water,” Frye said. “People never drink as much as they think they do. If you are outside, it is good to drink frequently about every 30 minutes or so. Take a break every hour to get hydrated. Working in 70-degree weather is not the same as 90 degrees — much harder in the heat.”

Frye talked about a couple of young men who were treated for dehydration and heat exhaustion after working on a roof.

“They thought they had plenty to drink, but with work like that, out in the sun, you should be drinking at least 2 gallons of water a day,” he said. “When you imagine them working on a roof — that’s not a good place to pass out.”

Frye said some of the warning signs of dehydration include “trouble thinking, focusing with eyes, feeling faint, weak and about to pass out.”

Frye dispelled the notion that, except in extreme cases, it is alright to take a cold shower within a reasonable temperature after working in the sun. Frye said a study proved that going from hot to cold would not cause a person to go into shock. He said perhaps it wouldn’t be wise to go from a workout in the heat and humidity to jumping into a bathtub filled with ice water, but it would be OK to take a cold shower.

Frye said the key to cooling down is wiping the heat away more so than taking a polar plunge.

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