The Heat Is On!!!

Although a heat wave across the Northeast concluded a fourth day on Wednesday, NJ Transit experienced no major delays or cancellations on Thursday morning.

In reponse to extreme heat conditions, Montclair will make the Municipal Council Chambers available as a cooling center Thursday to offer people relief from the extreme temperatures the area has been experiencing. Council Chambers - on the first floor at 205 Clairmont Avenue - will be open to the public Thursday, July 8 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Even so, Montclair residents hoped for a break from the extreme temperatures on Thursday.

Although the temperature was still hovering near 90 degrees at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the high on Thursday was predicted to be a slightly more tolerable 87 degrees - and no greater than 85 degrees by Saturday.

That's good news for children at camps such as Rainbow Camp in Montclair, where children aren't allowed to go outdoors if the temperature rises above 93 degrees.

But although temperatures are beginning to fall, the bad news is that a variety of other factors are extending the "heat wave of 2010" past early predictions, prompting the National Weather Service to extend and upgrade its heat warning for a third time.

As of 3:20 p.m. on Wednesday, July 7, the National Weather Service upgraded the current Excessive Heat Warning set to expire at 8 p.m. Wednesday night to an Excessive Heat Watch, the highest warning level, reserved for periods of heat indices over 100 degrees for a time period greater than 48 hours.

Heat index values reached 102 degrees again on Wednesday, with actual temperatures in the mid-90s. Falling humidity levels will result in a dry heat causing yet another National Weather Service warning, in this case for wildfire threats. The alert also said that the combined effects will create "explosive fire growth potential."

But the National Weather Service alert also said that :"The excessive heat should continue to ease slightly on Friday, but lower humidity levels will not occur until a cold front moves through the area about Saturday."

At least one Montclair Town Council member, Cary Africk, has suggested expanding the hours at the town's three pools by one or two hours in order to accommodate those arriving home late from work.

But Mayor Jerry Fried said Wednesday that the pool hours were reduced this year because of budget cuts and that hours could only be extended if private funding was obtained.

On Tuesday and Wednesday morning, NJ Transit experienced delays and cancellations due mostly to an increase in locomotive problems related to the extreme temperatures. But the good news was that no cancellations were expected Wednesday evening, with all trains expected to run on schedule. Please visit here for updates. And if you want to "peek" at how things are doing on other NJT train lines, check out the mobile web site: http://m.clevercommute.com.

With the first heat wave of the summer season upon the region, the Montclair Health Department (MHD) urged residents earlier this week to take steps to avoid heat exhaustion and heat stroke.d a "feel-like" temperature between 100 and 104 degrees.

For example, it's vital to drink plenty of fluids, spend time in cool places, wear light clothes, and reduce or reschedule any physical activity. Please remember to check on elderly family members and neighbors to make sure they are safe. Keep pets in cool places and also make sure they have plenty of water.

For more information on how to avoid the health dangers of extreme heat go here. Check out PSE&G's new Twitter feed about heat-related outages at http://twitter.com/psegoutageinfo.

So how hot was it? It was so hot that the high humidity combined with the soaring temperatures in such a way that it created a "feel-like" temperature between 100 and 104 degrees for at least a few consecutive hours.

When asked what they planned to do this week to avoid the heat, Montclair residents came up with a variety of responses.

Mary Emanuelli, mother of four, said she was taking her chidlren to see Karate Kid and then will spend some birthday gift cards at Old Navy and Delia's, "which probably will include a stop at Cinnabon in the Willowbrook Mall too!"

Robin Hoffman, mother of two, said she was drinking iced coffee and staying inside her air-conditioned house while the kids try to stay cool by hanging out in the blow-up pool in the backyard.

Wendy Anderson, another mother of two, said she was soaking her feet in cold water.

She made a good point: since the body radiates heat from the feet - as well as from the hands, face, and ears - cooling any of these spots will also cool off the rest of your body as well.

Finally, if the weather stays hot and heavy for the next few days, here are a few air-conditioned places to spend your time. For more information, go to DestinationMontclair, a great Web site jam-packed with upcoming events and activities.

1) Visit the third floor learning lab at the Montclair Art Museum to explore the art and humanity of hair! Inspired by the artist Lorna Simpson's piece, Coiffure, the museum asks children of all ages to think about human differences and similarities using the concept of hair. Making use of art materials provided, families can create a three dimensional portrait inspired by their own hair. Then relax and enjoy the museum's reading nook where one can read and reflect on books provided.

2) Fine Art is always free -- and cool. Check out BrassWorks on Grove, Midland Gallery, Pat Gail Gallery, Gallery 51, Gallery Loupe, Essex Fine Arts, Jacklyn Kling Gallery, and Studio Montclair's Block Gallery.

3) Go see a movie. Check out Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky at the Claridge theatre on Bloomfield. Check out the Patch review here.

4) If you make it to the weekend, reward yourself by going to Magnolia's Weekly Wine Tasting on Saturday afternoon, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Magnolia's will offer a taste of four excellent wines, two red and two white, from Terredora Di Paolo, one of the leading wineries in the Campania region of Italy.