Sizzling Weather is Taking Over Chicago

The sweltering sun has been beaming on Chicagoans lately, with the past three days each being over 90 degrees. Today Chicago got a “break” (or a sad excuse for a break) with temperatures in the upper eighties. The hot weather was even too much for our streets as the pavement on Lake Shore Drive deteriorated due to the extreme heat! If our solid pavement is crumbling, how are we supposed to stay standing? These extremely hot weather conditions can be dangerous to your health if you’re not taking the right precautions and measures to remain healthy and maintain cool body temperatures. Hot-weather-hater Matthew Maloney stated, “I can’t handle this extreme heat. The best way I stay out of it is staying indoors during the hottest part of the day, and venturing out after 4:00pm when the sun starts going down. If I have to be outside during that prime time I enjoy complaining how hot it is.” Another Chicagoan, JoAnn Neenan, stated “I nanny every day, and yesterday I told the kids we can’t go to the park because if is over 90 degrees out people start melting. Alright, I’ll tell them tomorrow I was kidding… but I can’t take them to the park when it is like this out!” Don’t worry JoAnn and Matt, we have tips to get you through this!
We all have heard about drinking plenty of water and wearing light colored and light weight clothing, but there are more safety tips that will help you keep cool on these scorching hot days. Be sure to wear sunscreen on days that are cloudy, because the sun may be even stronger when it’s pushing through the clouds. Eating small meals of carbohydrates, salads, and fruit and eating more often is a way to prevent heat-related illnesses and keep your body fueled. So before you look into moving to Moscow to escape this heat, do your best to try and stay cool in our wonderful Chicago. For a heat safety checklist or for more safety tips concerning our unwanted heat wave, visit chicagoredcross.org/heatwave.

-By Jeannie Andresen, Marketing and Communications Intern at the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago.