Residents endured triple digits
For the first time this year, temperatures soared past triple
digits this week, sending parents, workers and kids scrambling for
shade and water.
Younger kids and their parents enjoyed the wonders of water
while others tried to bear the heat while setting up booths for the
Wednesday Farmer’s Market. But a common theme from everyone was
that it could have been worse.
Residents endured triple digits
For the first time this year, temperatures soared past triple digits this week, sending parents, workers and kids scrambling for shade and water.
Younger kids and their parents enjoyed the wonders of water while others tried to bear the heat while setting up booths for the Wednesday Farmer’s Market. But a common theme from everyone was that it could have been worse.
“The heat just stops everything,” said Richard Bradley at the Downtown Hollister Farmer’s Market. “At least there is this nice cool breeze.”
Still, everyone at the market loaded booths with extra water or ice.
For Tammy Cadile and her 2-year-old son Kaden, Tuesday’s 109-degree temperature was the perfect time to visit the “waterwhale” at Valley View Park for the first time.
“I just couldn’t get him away from it yesterday so I needed to come back today,” she said. “He just loves the water.”
Kaden, holding a pair of plastic dinosaurs in each hand, ran through the sprouting water as his mom, Tammy, watched from the edges of the cement. On Tuesday, Cadile joined in with her son running though the water but Wednesday she was letting her kid have all the fun.
“Yesterday, we came here to cool off but today it’s a little cooler,”she said.
But not many enjoyed the water Wednesday. Before 12:30 p.m. Wednesday only three kids and two parents enjoyed the park’s wonders. On Tuesday, more than 20 kids roamed the park, Joy Urtnowski said.
Urtnowski, who runs Meadow Lark Preschool, was there with her son Ryland, 5, and student Dean Ehert, 2. The two kids raced around the park splashing in the water as Urtnowski kept watch telling them to stop running.
“It’s just cement out there – if they fall it hurts,” she said.
Coming to the water park isn’t something new for Urtnowski, who lives across the street, but in the heat it’s a welcome escape.
“It’s one of the only safe options here for these kids,” she said. “I can’t take a bunch of preschoolers to the pool – at least not all of them.”
The heat also forces her to stay indoors while running the preschool because the kids can overheat, she said.
“We try and stay indoors – go to the library or just turn on the air,” Urtnowksi said.
At the Farmer’s Market some of the vendors worried the heat might slow down business.
“When you have temperatures in the triple digits people just don’t want to come outside,” Bradley said. “It cuts business by at least 50 percent.”
The heat does have some benefits – mostly for those waiting for their harvest to flourish.
“It is somewhat nice to have a little bit of heat,” Urtnowski said. “We planted a small harvest this year but so far nothing has grown because of the weather. We’ve only had a few tomatoes.”
At the market, Vance Wolfsen loved the hotter weather.
“This is a blessing,” he said. “We haven’t been getting a lot of it this year so as a farmer it’s good.”
National Weather Service forecast:
Friday: Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 70. West southwest wind between 3 and 7 mph.
Friday Night: Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 52.
Saturday: Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 64.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 52.
Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 63.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 51.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 73.
