Plan on playing it cool as temperatures top 100 in county

Published 10:01 pm Thursday, July 29, 2010

SNOHOMISH — Talk about a sales pitch. The electronic reader board outside of McDaniel’s Do-It Center hardware store in downtown Snohomish read 107 degrees at 2:39 p.m. Wednesday. Flashing on the screen afterward was the line: “Order your AC unit now!”

Record-setting temperatures are making air conditioning units a hot buy as Snohomish County residents look for relief from the sweltering heat.

Dozens of people took refuge in air- conditioned buildings designated as “cooling centers” across the county Wednesday.

A couple of blocks from McDaniel’s, Garnet Little, 77, relaxed in an easy chair with a John Grisham novel and a newspaper at the Snohomish Senior Center. She’d had cataract surgery just a few hours earlier and the heat at her Silver Lake home was unbearable.

“I didn’t think I should subject my body to the heat after surgery,” she said. “Night is bad enough. Eighty-five at midnight. It’s just too hot.”

Irene Morrow, 85, went to an exercise class in the morning at the Snohomish Senior Center before heading home to check on her cat. She found herself quickly retreating back to the coolness in the center.

“I had to come back here,” she said. “It was just too hot to stay there.”

Temperatures cracked 100 in several parts of Snohomish County on Wednesday, including a record 102 degrees at the Arlington Municipal Airport around 5 p.m. Granite Falls marked a sizzling 108 degrees, followed by 105 in Lake Stevens.

The National Weather Service in Seattle marked 102 degrees by midday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, breaking a previous record of 100 degrees, set in downtown Seattle in 1941 and repeated at the airport in 1994.

Jay Albrecht, a meteorologist with the service, said it’s the hottest it has been in Seattle, according to records dating to 1891.

At the same time, thunderstorms coming over the Cascades prompted a flash-flood warning, said Jay Neher with the weather service. The warning was in effect from about 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. for areas including Verlot, Gold Bar and Index.

The heat wave is expected to continue today before beginning to ease by the weekend.

Lois Cobler, who said she has diabetes and has had two heart attacks, was grateful to be dealt into a game of pinochle at the East County Senior Center in Monroe on Wednesday.

Cobler, 61, has been living at the mission in Monroe in recent weeks after her home burned down near Aberdeen four months ago.

Until Wednesday, she had been able to tolerate the heat by finding shade in downtown parks, but the heat blast was too stifling. She walked into the senior center for the first time with her dog, April Marie, by her side.

“There just wasn’t cool enough shade for us outside,” she said. “When I heard 102 in Monroe, I said, ‘That’s it.’ With a heart condition, I just knew I had to get out of the weather.”

As temperatures rose, so did demand for electricity and water.

The Snohomish County PUD reported a record peak consumption for a summer day on Wednesday.

The power went out for about 14,000 people just after noon in Snohomish and Monroe.

Sagging power lines, a result of the high heat, tripped three substations, said Neil Neroutsos, a spokesman for the Snohomish County PUD.

Everett recorded its thirstiest day ever on Tuesday.

Everett pumped out 111.23 millions gallons of water, and expected to surpass that as the searing heat continued.

“We made more water than at any time in our history,” city spokeswoman Kate Reardon said on Wednesday. “We think we’re going to exceed that today.”

The city has just 26,000 direct customers, but it supplies water to a half-million customers indirectly through other water districts. The maximum capacity is 132 million gallons per day.

The previous record was set on July 25, 2006, when the city supplied 110.48 million gallons.

Many consumers were willing to pay for immediate relief.

At McDaniel’s in Snohomish, ceiling fans and air conditioning units are hot sellers this week.

“Air conditioning is one of those crazy things,” said Bob McDaniel, who works at the popular family business owned by his son. “We are going to sell more ACs this week than we have probably sold since we have been here.”

The business has been at its current location for more than two decades.

Kris Krischano of Everett got word that Sears at Everett Mall would be getting a shipment of air conditioners about noon on Wednesday. He got in line before the store opened. By 10 a.m. nearly 100 shoppers were lined up waiting for confirmation about how many air conditioners had arrived earlier than expected.

Two lines were formed inside the store by employees. One for those who wanted portable units, the other for whatever else was available.

It was nice being in a cheerful crowd in a cool store, he said.

“I expected to camp out for several hours. I didn’t even read a chapter in my book or finish my first bottle of water. I even looked for someone handicapped or more elderly than me to use my lawn chair but found no takers.”

He said he hoped the setup would be as easy when he got home.

Where to find a cooling center

Arlington

The city, in partnership with the Stillaguamish Senior Center, will have two air-conditioned locations: the Stillaguamish Senior Center, 18308 Smokey Point Blvd., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and the Arlington City Council chambers, 110 E. Third St., will be open from 3 to 5 p.m. today.

Everett

Cooling shelters are open at Everett libraries, main library, 2702 Hoyt; Evergreen branch, 9512 Evergreen Way, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today.

Everett parks that offer both shaded outdoor areas and some water access: Forest Park, 802 E. Mukilteo Blvd.; Silver Lake, 11400 W. Silver Lake Road; Howarth Park, 1127 Olympic Blvd.

The city also recommends against playing in the water at Langus and Rotary parks, where the river waters are extremely hazardous because of currents, depth and underwater snags.

Granite Falls

Firefighters plan to spray folks down from 1 to 2 p.m. at Monte Cristo Elementary School, 1201 100th St. NE.

Lake Stevens

Lake Stevens Community Center at 1808 Main Street is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays.

Lynnwood

The Lynnwood Senior Center, 5800 198th St., has been designated as a community cooling station. It will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for anyone 55 or older and open for all ages from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. through Friday.

Monroe