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Surviving Summer Sweating In The Rain: Showers Bring Unbearable Humidity
By: Candia Dames
Nassau, Bahamas
14/06/2004
This past Saturday at the “Junkanoo In June” Festival at Arawak Cay, many grumpy customers braved the muggy weather as they stood for up to half an hour in line – sweating in the rain – waiting to order crab and dough or crab cakes from one of the food vendors.
Someone remarked, “Boy, this is going to be a hot summer.”
Truth of the matter is, every summer is a hot summer.
And we’re off to a very hot start.
Forecaster Gregory Thompson explained Sunday that although summer doesn’t officially start until June 21, temperatures ranging from the mid 80’s to the low 90s can be expected from here on out.
There are many technical terms that can explain why, but you’re probably too hot and too bothered to care.
Mr. Thompson said a system known as the Bermuda high (which has its centre near Bermuda), set up earlier this year than normal.
“Because of this, we had sinking dry air for quite a while,” he explained, “Hence the lack of rain and then the heat started. When you have high pressure, you get clear skies and that’s incoming radiation from the sun because of lack of clouds. It started to feel very warm, very early.”
Mr. Thompson said the rainfall makes it feel a lot hotter and this time of year don’t expect to get any cold fronts moving through.
He advised staying out of the sun for extended periods of time and wearing loose fitting, light material clothing. And did we mention?
Sun block.
Yes, sun block. You may be a black person, but that doesn’t mean you too don’t need protection from the sun’s lethal rays.
Mr. Thompson recalls one summer in his early days in the met office he went on a boat to the Berry Islands with his uncle and cousins.
“Being the big shot that I am I spent the day sitting on the deck in the sun,” he recalled. “The following day when I got up, I started to peel. It was sunburn. If you stay exposed to the sun long enough you will get sunburn. The sun is almost directly over head now.”
Experts advise that you drink plenty of water and juices during this period and avoid beverages like sodas and cool-aids.
Other tips for dealing with the heat include:
Plan to do more summer activities in the morning, when it’s cooler.
Wear hats that keep the sun off your face and neck.
Try to schedule all meetings in your office.
Apply ample amounts of sunscreen.
And one that I would use my journalist license to add – find someone to bring you lunch every day or bring it from home, that way you won’t have to brave the heat and drive around town to find it yourself.
Happy summer.
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