Poll: What is your advice for Northwesterners dealing with a heat wave? / LJWorld.com

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Response		Percent	Votes
Buy an air conditioner or fan		46%	233
Go jump in a lake or a pool		35%	179
Have a cold drink		9%	49
Shop in an air-conditioned store		4%	21
Eat more ice cream		3%	16
Total	498

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Dateable_Shelter_Dude (anonymous) says…

Streak on down for that Iced Starbucks.
July 30, 2009 at 1:35 a.m.
MissinLawrence (anonymous) says…

I'm more of an ice cream fan...never too cold or too hot for ice cream
July 30, 2009 at 6:32 a.m.
RoeDapple (anonymous) says…

Call Al Gore
July 30, 2009 at 7:55 a.m.
cait48 (anonymous) says…

I lived in that area of the country for several years. This truly is freak weather for them. Most homes there don't have central air. Why bother when the hottest summer temp gets up to the mid 80's? Heat pumps are common but in 100+ temps heat pumps are overwhelmed. The people that live there aren't acclimated to that kind of weather and I imagine they truly are suffering. That's not to say it hasn't happened before. The summer of '77 I lived in SE Portland and temps climbed up to 100 for a week in July. My husband and I (fresh from the Midwest) shrugged it off. We were a bit amazed when people started keeling over around us.
July 30, 2009 at 8:07 a.m.
Practicality (anonymous) says…

Become an Ice Road Trucker.
July 30, 2009 at 8:34 a.m.
RETICENT_IRREVERENT (Ronaldo Ignacio) says…

Pine Ridge South Dakota was 38 last night.
July 30, 2009 at 9:04 a.m.
Centerville (anonymous) says…

Coldest July in Kansas since 1905. Keep recycling!
July 30, 2009 at 9:07 a.m.
autie (anonymous) says…

they just need to suck it up and get over it.
July 30, 2009 at 9:31 a.m.
was_freashpowder2 (Alexander Neighbors) says…

I am in the northwest and yes it is hot as hell here and no one has an AC because its never this hot. Pretty Much everyone is either floating the river or at the public library or any other public building With AC
July 30, 2009 at 9:43 a.m.
honeychild (Mel Briscoe) says…

sucks for them, doesn't it? *snicker snicker*
July 30, 2009 at 10:49 a.m.
beatrice (anonymous) says…

Water, and lots of it! Stay out of the sun, wear light-colored clothing and a hat.

We are having one of the hottest Julys ever here in Phoenix. Average temp has been 98.2 -- that is counting the daytime highs and the nightime lows! It has cooled a touch yesterday -- and just 108 today. Compared to 115, I'll take it.

Water!
July 30, 2009 at 10:50 a.m.
honeychild (Mel Briscoe) says…

LOL @ what centerville wrote! and i co-sign! :D
July 30, 2009 at 10:51 a.m.
blue73harley (anonymous) says…

Beer. Lots of ice cold beer.
July 30, 2009 at 11 a.m.
localgirl9 (anonymous) says…

I totally moved to the Northwest this spring and was ready to be cold all damn summer...but noooo...I brought Kansas summer with me!!!! Actually, it is still way better than Kansas summer. It was 91 in my non-air conditioned home on the hottest day and that was hot, but it wasn't as spine melting, mind numbing or fury inducing as 91 in my house in Lawrence would have been (it was 102 outside) Everyone here (except the midwest transplants) has been freaking out a bit. And they are ALL at the lake/river/creek. I don't think anyone is at work. It's a good thing there is so much water up here!
July 30, 2009 at 11:10 a.m.
rrussell (Rex Russell) says…

My advice from a life-long Kansan is: Suck it up, you rain soaked weenies. Anyone remember the summer of '80 here in Kansas ?
July 30, 2009 at 11:14 a.m.
gphawk89 (anonymous) says…

Buy an air conditioner while they are still being produced. And lots of extra coolant before it's outlawed as well.
July 30, 2009 at 11:27 a.m.
Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…

Hot weather is dangerous. It is not wise to underestimate that. I feel for those experiencing this for the first time.
People in Kansas whine about the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter.
Its too dry, no its too wet.
My advice would be to buy fans. I think it is worse to go in and out of places with AC in the summer because that just makes it that much worse when you have to go back out in the heat.
July 30, 2009 at 11:29 a.m.
1029 (anonymous) says…

Bong hits. Then sit back and take it easy and imagine that you can't feel the heat.

People have become too coddled--they go from their air conditioned house to their air conditioned garage to hop in their air conditioned car to drive to their air conditioned office. Humans got by without AC in the past. Now, almost every car you see is driving around with its windows rolled up.

I made it through the summers of '04 and '05 in Lawrence just fine without an AC. And that was in a 3rd floor (top floor) apartment with only two windows (both facing north).
July 30, 2009 at 11:38 a.m.
monkfellow (anonymous) says…

I was in Seattle this past weekend, leaving Monday morning when the humidity kicked in. This is unusual for the northwest, but hardly unheard of. Interior Washington State regularly hits the 100 degree mark in Summer. Because all the latte' lovers are being inconvenienced, it's making news (and I base that on some comments I overheard at the Sea Tac airport,which is nice and cool).Around here, it doesn't snow that much, but we have snowthrowers and shovels and boots for the time it does,and for the freak meteorological occurance that leads to multi-inch events. What's happening in the Northwest has probably-likely-happened over the millenia, and has nothing to do with global warming, cooling, or anything other than nature at its most remarkable(and mundane).
July 30, 2009 at 11:42 a.m.
The_Original_Bob (anonymous) says…

"Beer. Lots of ice cold beer. " Blue

Finally, someone gave useful advice.
July 30, 2009 at 12:35 p.m.
ErnestBarteldes (Ernest Barteldes) says…

I will go with the beer too. Just make it a microbrew, not those tasteless mass-marketed brands
July 30, 2009 at 12:45 p.m.
AreUNorml (anonymous) says…

go home
July 30, 2009 at 12:50 p.m.
merrill (anonymous) says…

Get an umbrella or find a shade tree and relax.
July 30, 2009 at 1:12 p.m.
salad (anonymous) says…

blue73harley (Anonymous) says…

"Beer. Lots of ice cold beer. "

blue harley...you complete me. You had me "beer".
July 30, 2009 at 1:34 p.m.
ladyoneill (anonymous) says…

I voted for buy an AC or fan, though good luck finding them. I have a couple of friends in Seattle and one said that stores are selling out of portable AC units and fans within an hour of receiving them.

This is not the first heatwave the area has had in the last five years. It's getting worse and people need to accept that the cool summers of the past are gone. It's the same as in London--twenty years ago hardly anywhere had air conditioning, now almost all businesses and hotels do, as well as more and more residences. It's simply no longer a high of 70 in either place in the summer but a high of 95.
July 30, 2009 at 1:39 p.m.
mcguirej (anonymous) says…

Being from the Pacific Northwest, this weather isn't all that unusual. There is a period of several days each summer where the temperatures rise to the 100s west of the Cascade mountain range.

Go east of the mountains and its close to 100 for the better half of July and August. Plus, there isn't any humidity in the northwest so its not all that bad.

Personally, I love the heat and always welcomed it when it got hot.
July 30, 2009 at 2:37 p.m.
hujiko (anonymous) says…

Water. Drink it. When you feel you have had enough, stop. Continue drinking to remain hydrated. Drink water. Water.
July 30, 2009 at 4:51 p.m.
George_Braziller (anonymous) says…

I know it's a cliche but it's true. It's not the heat, it's the humidity. If the humidity is low it can be 100 degrees and you can be amazingly comfortable with just a fan. But, I'm always cold. I'd take a 90 degree day over a 50 degree day any time.
July 30, 2009 at 4:58 p.m.
JayCat_67 (anonymous) says…

I've been in western WA the past two summers now, left Kansas before it got too hot, and last summer, when I got home it was unusually cool, so I haven't seen this kind of heat for a couple years now. It is kind of funny to watch the news coverage, but not being acclimated to the heat kinda stinks. Guess I shouldn't have giggled so much last month when it was pushing 100 in KS and topping out at 80 here... Knowing my luck, it'll probably heat up there, about the time I get back.
July 30, 2009 at 5:14 p.m.
autie (anonymous) says…

Visit Kansas. It's October here.
July 30, 2009 at 5:23 p.m.