Hot weather expected to ease slightly

MOSES LAKE - Temperatures are expected to moderate today and stay slightly cooler through the middle of next week, but it's expected to warm back up next Thursday or Friday.

Highs are expected to stay in the lower to mid-90s today and drop to the high 80s by tomorrow, according to forecasts on the National Weather Service website. "This (Thursday) is going to be last really warm day," said Paul Bos, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane. The chance of thunderstorms will increase to about 20 percent. "We're going to get some lightning strikes out of that," Bos said.

The last 10 days were the first stretch of hot weather in 2012, and even though everyone knows it's coming every year, the first hot spell brings with it certain behaviors.

As triple-digit temperatures arrived, people started buying air conditioners. "You always get hit that first few days of hot weather," said Brad McMillan, a sales associate at Sears in Moses Lake. "You get that first heat wave and they sell pretty fast."

"It's the small ones that you run out of," the air conditioners that cool one or two rooms, said Mark Bacon, manager at Skaug Brothers Ace Hardware in Moses Lake. And many local businesses did run out. Last weekend the Skaug Brothers staff was calling other stores and having no luck, Bacon said.

People who are still in the market for an air conditioner can shop with confidence - they were unloading a new shipment of room-size ones at the Sears store Thursday morning, and they were back in stock at Skaug Brothers too.

When it's hot people head for the pool. On Sunday the parking lot at the Surf 'n Slide water park was full by 10 a.m., and the parking spaces were filled for a couple of blocks around. People go to the lake, Potholes State Park, any handy swimming beach. People use lots of ice and eat lots of ice cream or frozen yogurt when it's hot. "We are slammed," said Brian Nielson, plant manager for the ReddyIce facility in Moses Lake.

About July 1 the company's warehouse was full almost to the ceiling, about 60,000 10- and 20-pound bags in stock. By Thursday the freezer was three-quarters empty, and that was with regular deliveries from the ice-making facility in Yakima. Early July, about July 4, is always the peak season for ice, Nielson said. "This year has been the Fourth of July for the last two weeks," he said.

Ice sales go up in the summer anyway, and "with weather like this it's almost 10-fold," Nielson said.

In addition to their regular customers, the ice guys respond to emergencies, like the owner of a local fast-food restaurant who showed up with a trailer after his ice machine died. "Ice machines always break down in the summer," Nielson said.

But while business slows down in the winter, it still stays steady, Nielson said, and people also eat frozen yogurt year-round, said Heather Threadgill, owner of Blue Palm Frozen Yogurt, Moses Lake.

In summer business is brisk as the sun goes down, Threadgill said. "After dinner." People who may have been playing in the water make one last stop before going home. "After the lake and all that stuff is over," she said.

Chocolate and vanilla are always the biggest sellers, but summer gives the frozen yogurt place more flavor options. "We go through tons of fresh fruit," Threadgill said; right now it's raspberry and early peach season.

But hot weather carries risk with it, and people need to be cautious when they're outdoors, according to information from the Washington Department of Health.

People who don't have a high tolerance for heat should stay indoors in air-conditioned environment, and everyone should drink plenty of fluids. But people should avoid beverages that contain alcohol, a lot of sugar or caffeine.

Pets should have plenty of water and shade, and neither people nor pets should be left in parked cars. People should check frequently on neighbors, friends or family who are elderly or ill.

Outdoor activities should be planned for morning and evening, when temperatures are cooler. People should wear a hat, sun block and loose-fitting clothes outdoors.