THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 27, 1995 TAG: 9507270366
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE AND LARRY BROWN, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
It's hot, and that's cool if you want to sweat your way into the history books.
Wednesday's high temperature of 96 at the National Weather Service office at Norfolk International Airport marked the 15th consecutive day that the mercury has slipped past 90. That ties a record set Aug. 3 to 17, 1977, and matched July 29 to Aug. 12, 1980.
With today's high expected to again tilt past 90, a new record is almost assured. And there's no telling where it will end. Forecasts call for temperatures to flirt with 90 through the weekend, with the outlook being partly sunny, hot and humid with a chance of late day thunderstorms each day.
That means that it will continue to feel as if it is 105 to 115 degrees outside; utility bills will continue to rise as folks crank up their air conditioning; gardens will continue to wilt unless frequently soaked; and severe afternoon thunderstorms will be possible.
On Wednesday, heat and humidity combined at 3 p.m. to make it feel as if it was 109 at Norfolk International and in Hampton, 112 at the Norfolk Naval Air Station and 113 at the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.
While people soak in their sweat, the ground is getting parched.
Some places are getting occasional thunderstorm dousings, but where one neighborhood may be green and lush, a few miles away there are brown lawns where thunderstorms have not helped.
Rainfall this month is at 1.74 inches at the airport, far short of the 4.21 inches that normally falls by this point in July. For the year, rainfall is at 19.61 inches, more than 6 inches below normal.
Folks who water their gardens and lawns find the task daunting given that the high temperatures rob the soil of moisture so quickly.
Hampton Roads is not alone in the heat wave; it continues forcefully around the Mid-Atlantic region.
In Richmond and Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday's high hit 94; in Baltimore and Raleigh, N.C., 93; in Washington and Greensboro, N.C., 91; in Roanoke and Asheville, N.C., 89; and in Charleston, W.Va., 88.
The high of 96 at Norfolk International was the hottest reading in the region and fell just 3 degrees shy of the record for the date, last set in 1987.
And there was one less place to chill out, at least for a little while.
The heat wave took its toll on a compressor at Iceland Family Ice Skating Center in Virginia Beach on Tuesday afternoon, causing the rink to start melting, general manager Mary Hutchinson said.
The rink has a cooling tower that brings in cold water to keep machines running smoothly, Hutchinson said. But the water ``was coming in at 100 degrees,'' she said.
``Our machines were struggling, too,'' she said. ``Summertime is a really popular time. We had a lot of people on the ice, too.''
The crowds and heat combined to weaken the ice, Hutchinson said. The rink had not completely melted, she said, but it's in bad shape. ``Yesterday it was pretty much water almost halfway across,'' she said Wednesday.
Staffers worked most of the day to repair equipment and ``keep things quiet and dark'' to bring the ice back up to par. They hoped to have the place iced up and running on Thursday.
``It's wonderful in here when it's warm outside,'' she said. ``A great place to get some relief.'' by CNB