Island Melts Beneath Heat Wave as Temperatures Push Near 100

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

Temperatures on the Vineyard climbed into the mid-nineties this
week, as the Island joined the rest of the Northeast in staggering under
an oppressive three-day heat wave that was forecast to break last night.
A high temperature of 96 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded Wednesday at
the National Weather Service Cooperative Station in Edgartown.

Even with the ocean breeze to offer some relief, the Vineyard was
only a few degrees cooler than places such as Boston, New York city and
Washington, D.C., all of which experienced hazardous hot weather through
the week. But for the most part Islanders handled the unusual heat
without a problem. The pace of life slowed and businesses experienced a
few kinks in the works, but the power stayed on and residents stayed
well, kept cool by air-conditioning or that more natural method of
refreshment: a swim in the ocean.

Dr. Timothy Tsai, director of emergency services at the
Martha's Vineyard Community Hospital, said emergency room staff on
Wednesday treated a relatively small number of patients, among them
landscapers and athletes, for heat-related maladies.

"We have really had a modest increase in cases related to the
weather. Most of the Island population has been very smart about dealing
with this heat," he said.

"Two or three people had heat related fainting,"
confirmed Carol Bardwell, chief nurse executive at the hospital.
"We rehydrated them and they were treated and released."

The staff at the Island councils on aging placed phone calls to
elderly residents to see how they were faring; staff at the Tisbury
Council on Aging also checked with the managers of Hillside Village and
Havenside, which house many seniors. The staff also opened the
air-conditioned center for visitors well into the evening on Wednesday.

Center director Joyce Stiles-Tucker said a half-dozen people visited
the center to escape the heat. "We had a black and white movie
showing, plus refreshments. The Red Cross came over and brought
water," Ms. Stiles-Tucker said.

"Our biggest concern is those seniors who are vulnerable to
heat, especially those with respiratory heart problems. You have to be
concerned that people don't get overcome by the heat, whether
inside or outside," she said.

Laurie Schreiber, director of the Edgartown Council on Aging, said:
"We had a staff meeting on Tuesday and we found people in the
community are tuned into the news media and a lot of information is
being given on heat exposure." She and the staff agreed that the
best act they could perform during this period is to keep in touch with
local seniors. "I am finding people would rather sit at home and
not move, than come down to the senior center. It is too hard to get up
and get dressed and come down. We just made sure that they all had fans
and food."

Meals on Wheels drivers checked in on the homes they visited.
"We called 50 to 60 people to see if they were okay and we
delivered one fan," Ms. Schreiber said.

The temperatures did however affect many Island businesses.

At Edgartown Seafood, the Frialator for cooking seafood in hot
grease was shut off for the day on Tuesday to keep the staff from
overheating. Others shifted their hours altogether. Vineyard Haven
resident John Thayer, for example, who runs a cabinet and woodworking
shop at Maciel Marine, started work at 6:30 a.m. "We started an
hour earlier and ended an hour earlier. By 3 p.m. there are no brain
cells working," Mr. Thayer said.

At Tea Lane Nursery the rules were relaxed as well. Landscapers
starting work between 7:30 and 8 a.m. were allowed to quit for the day
if they felt too uncomfortable. "We are coping. Everyone is being
told to be aware of the heat and at their discretion they can
stop," said Matt Tobin, who runs the nursery and landscaping
business. "Yesterday most of them were in by noon or 1 p.m."

The regional office of the federal Environmental Protection Agency
issued unhealthy air warnings through the week for most of the region
which includes Connecticut, Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts,
including the Cape and Islands.

"As this hot summer weather continues, we predict that
southern New England will continue to experience unhealthy air
quality," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of
EPA's New England regional office.

Bill Simpson, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in
Taunton, said the culprit has been a high pressure ridge over New
England. "It is ushering in the heat that was over the
Midwest," he said.

That pattern was predicted to change last night when a cold front
from Canada was expected to arrive. The weather for the next five days
should be moderate. Fair seasonable temperatures should rule for the
days ahead.

Mr. Simpson said a 96-degree temperature on the Vineyard is rare. In
the summer of 2002 there were five days in July and three days in August
when the thermometer hit 90 or higher. The record high in 2002 was 95
and for most of the summer the Vineyard was in an extreme drought-like
condition.

The highest temperature on record through the cooperative station
was 99 degrees, recorded in August in 1948. The cooperative station was
begun in 1946 by Henry Beetle Hough and his wife, Elizabeth Bowie Hough.

"This weather is nothing unusual for us. This happens every
five or ten years," Mr. Tobin said. "I can remember that we
tend to have seven years of dry weather and then one or two years of wet
weather and then we are back to dry weather."

Fortunately there has been rain this year. July was a typical month
for rainfall.

Total rainfall for July was 2.76 inches, only about .13 inches above
normal. It was the first month of the summer season when there was no
significant flooding. Compare that to June's soaking, a record wet
month. Total rainfall for June was 10.93 inches, or 8.28 inches above
normal. May was also wet with 7.36 inches of rain.

If there was a fault, July came with more than its share of overcast
skies. There were 13 rain-producing days last month, plenty of fog and a
more frequent southeasterly breeze instead of the preferred,
drier-prevailing southwest wind. All told, there were 13 wet days in
July, far more than July of 2005 which was considered a tourism-friendly
month with nine days of precipitation and below-average rainfall.

Last month offered some fickle weather, too. There was a wind storm
on the night of July 12 that came in with a thunderstorm. Vineyard Haven
got heavy rains, while Edgartown received only drizzle.

Tropical storm Beryl passed far offshore in the early morning hours
of Friday, July 21. The barometric pressure dropped and there was rain,
but by 3 a.m. the storm was on its way out.

The high mark for July temperatures came Saturday when the
thermometer at the National Weather Service cooperative station hit 88
degrees. There were 19 days last month when the temperature rose to 80
degrees or above. The average high temperature for July was 80.5
degrees. The coolest day was 72 degrees.

Last year, the highest temperature recorded was 92 degrees -
but overall July 2005 was cooler, with an average high of 79.1 degrees.

As for the month ahead, the Old Farmer's Almanac predicts the
following summer forecast for this region: "The summer season will
be hotter and wetter than normal, although there will not be a prolonged
heat wave. The hottest period will be in mid-July and early and late
August."