Temperature tops 90 for first time since 2007

Gary Porter
Bobbi Richards of Jackson gets a snorkeling lesson Wednesday in Mauthe Lake in the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest north of Kewaskum. Temperatures in the 90s throughout the area made lakes such as Mauthe ideal places to hang out.
Published on: 6/24/2009

Temperatures in Milwaukee surpassed 90 degrees for the first time in almost two years Wednesday, kicking summer into full, sweaty mode and air conditioners into high gear.

The temperature at Mitchell International Airport hit 94 at 2:59 p.m., three degrees short of the record high of 97, recorded July 24, 1937.

The last time Milwaukee saw a 90-degree day was Sept. 5, 2007, when the high temperature reached 91. But not everyone was complaining.

"It can't get hot enough for me," Michael Sturdevant, 51, of New Berlin said Wednesday evening while attending the River Rhythms festival in Pere Marquette Park with his wife, Linda.

"All I do is think about Jan. 2 at 7 a.m., getting in my car to go to work and shivering."

The temperature combined with the humidity to push the heat index to 95, prompting the National Weather Service in Sullivan to issue a heat advisory for much of southeastern Wisconsin.

An air quality advisory for the region also was issued by the state Department of Natural Resources because of elevated ozone levels.

The heat is believed to have significantly increased the demand for energy, We Energies spokesman Barry McNulty said, noting that the demand for power on Wednesday peaked between 4 and 5 p.m.

"What often happens is people come home to a hot house and flick the switch," on air conditioning, he said.

There was no switch to flick in the service department at Hall Chevrolet in Wauwatosa, where technicians Cody Puranen, 23, and Scott Fisher, 25, sought relief at the entrance to the air-conditioning-free building while waiting for their next jobs.

"It's really not fun," said Puranen. "But when I take a car out for a test drive, I can turn the air conditioning on and cool off a little bit."

Fisher noted that their building consists mostly of metal, making it even hotter inside than out.

"I looked at the thermometer on my tool box yesterday, and it was at 112 degrees," he said. "But they give us free Gatorade and Popsicles to help us cool off."

The temperature gauge atop the Rockwell Automation Inc. building in Walker's Point read 91 degrees shortly after 5 p.m. Alex Sonnenschein, 19, parked cars for patrons at the Iron Horse Hotel along the Sixth St. viaduct, wearing a long-sleeved shirt, tie and dress pants.

"You're doing dead sprints in dead heat," Sonnenschein said. "It definitely gets exhausting."