Rare Summer Heat Wave May Set Island, EUP Record

Well on the way to a record hot summer, Island horses are kept cool with a water spray several times a day. Julie, a seven-year-old Carriage Tours horse, is given a cool bath at the horses’ wash rack by Cary Wolter of Iowa, who is working on the Island for the summer. Horses are sprayed several times a day, said Zak Cripps of Sault Ste. Marie, who is working with the horses until November. They are cooled off before they begin work. Then, carriage drivers keep an eye on them and if they begin to heat up, the horses are taken either to Chambers Riding Stables or Surrey Hill Square to be cooled off with a quick spray. Finally, when the horses are brought back to the barn, they are given another cool bath. The National Weather Service says this may be the warmest summer in its 57 years of record keeping and, this week, issued a rare heat advisory for northern Michigan and much of the Eastern Upper Peninsula.

“We can be pretty confident in saying this is on pace for a record setting summer,” said Jim Keysor, who is a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord. “Obviously, we’ll have to see how the remainder of August plays out.”

This also is one of the driest summers on record, he added.

“People’s perception that this is really, really hot is correct,” said Mr. Keysor.

The nearest weather information in this area is recorded at Pellston and Sault Ste. Marie. Records at St. Ignace are maintained by the Climate Center in Washington D.C., but date only to 1973 and are updated infrequently because St. Ignace is a low population center. In fact, Mr. Keysor said, the Climate Center has not yet entered any records for the city this year.

The hottest summer prediction represents average temperature records during a 63-day period from June 1 through August 2. Records for Sault Ste. Mare date to 1931 and Pellston records date to 1948 and at both locations, data shows this to be the warmest summer so far.

“That’s pretty impressive,” Mr. Keysor said.

The National Weather Service issued the heat advisory for Wednesday, August 3, from noon until 8 p.m. when temperatures were predicted to reach the lower 90s, combined with humidity over 70 percent. With a tropical dewpoint hovering around 70 degrees, the heat index was expect to reach above 100 degrees for three hours or more.

Temperatures will have to become quite cool in August to pull the average temperature down enough to affect the record course the area is on, said Mr. Keysor.

“Looking over the next two weeks, we’re not seeing anything that would be abnormally cooler. In fact, temperatures look normal to above normal for the upcoming period,” he said.

Rainfall is below the average with 4.38 inches having fallen during the same 63-day period in Sault Ste. Marie, ranking this the 14th driest year on record for that city. Pellston, with 4.30 inches of rain since June 1, is experiencing its 18th driest year in its recorded history.

Mackinac County will receive normal rainfall over the next two weeks, but not enough to alleviate the drought conditions, Mr. Keysor said. Normal rainfall for this time of year, for a two-week period, is about 1.0 inch to 1.5 inches of rain. Mr. Keysor said it would take four inches to six inches of rain to get Mackinac County out of the drought.

“I don’t see anywhere near enough rain to pull the area out of a drought in the next two weeks,” he said.