Monday, June 14, 1999

Cool down: skies plan on it

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BY ERIN GIBSON and MIRIAM SMITH
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Crystal Ferguson of Oakley splashes water on her son Qwenlin's feet Sunday at Twin Lakes in Eden Park. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        A cold front is expected to sweep through the Tristate this morning, bringing an end to sweltering conditions and holding temperatures below 80 degrees this week.

        “Looks like a pretty significant change from this steam bath,” said Laura Hannon, an ACCUWEATHER forecaster.

        Showers accompanying the cold front today are to clear by early afternoon and leave sunny, breezy weather and a high of 78 degrees, she said.

        Overnight, the temperature will drop to 55 degrees, and Tuesday's high will be about 73. Lows should stay in the 50s and highs should be below 80 going into the weekend.

        Cincinnati's average high so far for June was 6 degrees above the normal 81, according to Ms. Hannon, but the heat didn't stifle many popular outdoor activities on Sunday.

        Gardeners gardened. Festival goers were festive. Car buffs admired fancy automobiles. And one West Chester man immersed himself in his hot tub.

        At garden stores in Winton Place, customers picked through petunias and other plants inside humid greenhouses hotter than outdoors.

        Marty Harrington of Hyde Park was picking out herbs, tomatoes and some bright annuals at A.J. Rahn's Greenhouses.

        She smiled and celebrated, “Yes!” when told cooler temperatures would arrive this week and make gardening feel easier.

        Al Funke, co-owner of nearby Funke's Greenhouses, said it was human bodies — not plants — that could use a break from the heat.

        “Provided things are watered, the heat is harder on the gardener than the garden,” he said.

        In West Chester, Kelly Fish sought relief in the foaming, 94-degree waters of his backyard hot tub.

        “Anything that's wet works,” Mr. Fish said.

        Michael and Cathy Foster of Loveland snuck out for some ice cream at Graeter's in Springdale. They paused from spooning some to share some thoughts on their guilty pleasure.

        “It's a good day for ice cream,” Mrs. Foster said. “It just cools the palate It's like an indulgence ... It gets us away from the kids.”

        Steven Delano, 16, of Hamilton resorted to drastic measures while herding carts at Jungle Jim's Market in Fairfield: he squirted himself with ice cold water from his water pistol.

        There were those who tried to take the safe route and stay house-bound. But then there's the kids, for whom summer and indoors don't mix, even when it's smoggy.

        Just ask Mike Godber of West Chester, whose daughter Julia, 7, was jumping up and down on a “moonwalk” for kids outside of Jungle Jim's as he waited to shop.

        “They were ready to get out of the house,” said Mr. Godber of Julia and her sister, Suzy, 6. “It's almost like a bad winter (day). ... They do have lot of bottled-up energy and we needed to get out for a while.”

        At Brookwood Retirement Community in Sycamore Township, residents stayed inside and away from the smog but they didn't lack for activities, said Michael Coler, associate administrator of the facility.

        However, “older adults for the most part like warmer temperatures,” Mr. Coler said, and some were running the heat in their rooms.

        “It's a personal choice ... but as I understand it, (the elderly) have less body mass in some cases to keep them warm,” Mr. Coler said. “So they get very cold very fast. We have residents today in our facility who have sweaters on.”

        At the Italian Festival in Northern Kentucky, thousands converged on Newport Shopping Center to eat lasagna, enjoy Italian performers and attend a Mass in the dogged heat and humidity.

        “People are forgetting about the heat because there's so much excitement here,” said Frank Peluso, Newport city clerk and festival committee member. “I'm forgetting about it, enjoying the festival and drinking lots and lots of water.”

        Festivalgoers kept the lemonade, Chianti, Italian ice and soft drink vendors busy, Mr. Peluso said.

        When they couldn't take it anymore, they rushed to one of about 25 36-inch pedestal fans throughout the festival grounds.

        Nearly 60,000 were expected to attend the four-day festival by closing Sunday and Mr. Peluso was confident that attendance would prove the heat couldn't quench visitors' thirst for fun.

        Enquirer reporter Susan Vela contributed to this story.

       

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