High temps to continue through the weekend

As the heat index crept above 90 Friday, Sally Shroeder smiled and kicked up the heat on a griddle at Lansing Cottonwood Campground.

“It’s hard on some people that don’t tolerate the heat,” Shroeder, 62, said. “But I’m kind of loving the really hot heat.”

Schroeder and her husband, Steve, drove from Midland Thursday to spend the weekend camping with their children and grandchildren.

Sally’s daughter, Sarah Thompson, wasn’t as enthusiastic about the high temps.

“I drove around yesterday for an hour trying to get cool, just to use my AC,” Thompson said, as she took shelter beneath the shade of a tree.

Temperatures Thursday and Friday peaked in the high 80s in Lansing, with heat indices in the low 90s, said Bob Dukesherer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Grand Rapids station. The heat index indicates what the temperature feels like when humidity is factored in.

Dukesherer said temperatures should be in the low 90s Saturday and Sunday. But, with drier air over the weekend, the heat indices shouldn't vary greatly from the actual temperature.

“Sunday looks to be the day with the most active weather,” Dukesherer said. “In the Lansing area Sunday, we should have a few storms in the area as a low pressure system moves through the Great Lakes.”

While many employees escaped the worst temperatures Friday inside air conditioned offices, others working outdoors relied on lots of water, frequent breaks and an early start to beat the heat.

Jeff Nunham, owner of Precision Roofing Services, said he encourages his employees to start early and stay hydrated when working in high temperatures.

“This is just business as usual,” Nunham said. “It’s always hot on top of a roof.”

Vernon Foote, a salesman for his family’s business, C.S. Roofing Company, said workers keep a cooler full of ice and water on hand.

“When you’re on the roof, its 20 degrees hotter than when you’re on the ground,” Foote said. “If you set your hand on these shingles for more than five minutes you’ll burn it.”

At the Letts Community Center off W. Kalamazoo Street, people gathered in a cool room for lunch provided by the center's senior program.

The facility, which also is used as a cooling center, kept the cold air blasting Friday.

Susan Duncan, 62, said she drinks a lot of ice water to stay cool and tries to keep fans blowing at her home.

Duncan, who visits the community center regularly, said she had a special appreciation for the building on days like Friday.

“I wasn’t going to come over,” Duncan said. “But when I walked outside and it was so hot I thought, ‘I better go.’”

Mae Hamilton, 66, escapes the heat at her Holt home, where she has central air. But Hamilton said she worried about some of the other seniors who join her for lunch at the community center.

"We've got a lot of seniors here that are low income and can't afford air conditioning," she said.

Contact Beth LeBlanc at (517) 377-1167, eleblanc@gannett.com, or on Twitter @LSJBethLeBlanc.

Stay cool

Cooling centers in Lansing will be open Saturday. A list of cooling centers and their hours can be found on the city of Lansing's website. 

To find the nearest cooling center or request a ride, residents can call 211.

Free rides to cooling centers are available to people with a physical or financial need through CATA, EATRAN and Clinton Area Transit.