NORTHAMPTON — With high temperatures and humidity on the horizon, residents are spending extra cash for air conditioning and changing their schedules to beat the heat.
According to Alan Dunham, spokesman for the National Weather Service in Taunton, this week will be hot and humid after a dry spell. Residents can expect highs in the low to mid 90s until Saturday, when temperatures drop to the mid 80s.
“No record highs, just summer-like temperatures,” Dunham said. “It’s typical for a hot and humid summer in the Pioneer Valley.”
The threshold for a heat advisory, Dunham said, is 100 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit
Showers and thunderstorms are possible Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Dunham said, though it is “too early to say” if a thunderstorm warning or tornado warning will be put in place later in the week.
Two weeks ago, Northampton announced restrictions on all non-essential outdoor water use between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., citing low stream flow in the Mill River.
Southampton also issued a similar voluntary restriction in June.
Despite restrictions, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Ria Convery said there is no word of a drought from the state, and the Quabbin Reservoir is operating normally.
Merridith O’Leary, Northampton’s director of public health, said the city will open an air conditioned “cooling center” at the Senior Center for residents if the temperature reaches the advisory threshold.
For Debra Horton, a resident of the Walter Salvo House on Conz Street, summer is the worst time of year. The heat aggravates her allergies and asthma, so she installed two air conditioners in her apartment to stay cool.
“It suffocates me,” said Horton, 57. “And it’s going to be really hard when the humidity comes in on Thursday and Friday. That’s when I’ll really get affected.”
According to Horton, residents of the Salvo House purchase their own air conditioners and the management will help with installation for a small fee.
Horton said she adjusts her schedule to avoid the hot noontime sun. She said she goes outside to feed homemade treats to squirrels and water her plants at 8 a.m., then retreats to the cool comfort of her apartment to cook for the homeless.
Ed Helems, 67, another resident of the Salvo House, installed an air conditioning unit in his fourth-floor apartment. Helems said the heat is hard on older folks because of health conditions and medications they may be taking.
“The hot weather makes it harder to move around over the years. I try to stay indoors and suck up the cold air during the day,” Helems said. “At night, I come out like a bat.”
John Wida, a spokesman for the Salvo House, said he has not noticed tenants having issues with weather-related heat stroke or dehydration.