Heat wave continues; relief near

And the heat goes on. And on. And on.

At 4:30 p.m. Monday, while the official temperature in Lawrence stood at a sizzling 104 degrees, 10 Kansas University students played full-court basketball at Veterans Park, 19th and Louisiana streets.

“Heat is a perception,” said Michael Turner, a freshman from Kansas City, Kan., when the two teams took a short break.

How long would they play?

“Until one of us dies,” someone said with a laugh.

“We’ll play until we have a joint agreement to stop,” said Mitch Dallmeyer, a Mission sophomore.

Monday’s high reached 105 degrees, with the heat index climbing to 115. Although the Lawrence record for Monday was 109 — set in 1936 — the average high for the date is 88.

High temperatures above 100 are expected to continue through Thursday, according to 6News forecasters Ross Janssen and Matt Jacobs.

A cold front will finally move in Friday and bring temperatures down to a high of 88 with a chance of rain, Janssen and Jacobs said. The high Saturday should be around 80.