Bad-air, fire alerts issued as Charlotte braces for week of stifling temps
A heat wave that’s expected to last well into the work week produced an air quality alert for Mecklenburg and Union counties on Saturday and a fire danger warning for the Charlotte region and much of the rest of the state.
Ground-level ozone prompted the “code orange” alert by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality until 8 p.m. Code orange means the air is “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” according to the department.
Charlotte, along with Raleigh-Durham and the N.C. foothills and mountains, have a “high” risk of outdoor fires this weekend, according to the daily fire danger prediction map produced by the State Climate Office of North Carolina.
Blame a high pressure weather system that began settling over Charlotte on Thursday and is expected to stick around well into the work week, according to the National Weather Service office in Greer, S.C.
Highs at Charlotte Douglas International Airport are forecast to climb each day through Wednesday, from 87 on Saturday to 92 on Sunday, 93 on Monday and Tuesday and 95 on Wednesday, according to the NWS updated forecast at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Temps should then dip slightly, to a high of 94 on Thursday and 92 on Friday, NWS meteorologists said.
Highs typically average in the low 80s the last two weeks of May in Charlotte, and some of the expected highs over the next few days could approach or break records, NWS meteorologist Harry Gerapetritis previously told the Observer.
And it will remain mostly sunny throughout the period, the forecast shows.
Ways to keep cool, some bizarre
Humans have found inventive ways to stay cool during such hot spells, besides cranking up the air conditioner, drinking plenty of fluids, wearing light clothes and avoiding strenuous exercise.
Consider these tips as well, plus some local places where you can cool down:
Take a warm shower. They’re better than cold showers when your body temperature is way up, according to HomesandGardens.com.
Order hot, hot Thai takeout. Eating spicy food and cutting alcohol, caffeine and sugar intake keeps you cooler, according to MoreVent, a heating, cooling and plumbing company based in West Chester, Pa.
Use peppermint soap. “Peppermint has a natural cooling and anti-inflammatory effect,” according to MoreVent’s list of seven ways to stay cool in a heat wave.
Turn off stove and oven. Using them just makes your house hotter, and you, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Keep Your Cool in Hot Weather!” tips list.
“Get damp and naked and stay in front of a fan.” Those are among the many other “greener ways to keep cool” tips from Columbia Climate School. (We’d just suggest also keeping the curtains closed when you do that, which serves the duel purpose of keeping your house cool and avoiding possible arrest.)
Get soaked at a sprayground. Mecklenburg County-run spraygrounds open for summer at 10 a.m. Friday. Check out the Playgrounds page on the Park and Recreation website.
Splash away at Carowinds Carolina Harbor water park. While the theme park is now open, Carolina Harbor opens June 12. Carolina Harbor slides and attractions range from “the towering plunge of Blackbeard’s Revenge to the splish-splashin’ fun of Kiddy Hawk Cove,” the Carowinds website says.
This story was originally published May 22, 2021 at 4:01 PM.