ATTLEBORO — If you were still feeling the heat while kicking back with a lemonade in the shade Thursday, just imagine what it was like for the people working outside with temperatures that felt like over 100 degrees.
Several workers were sweating it out Thursday afternoon as they put down hot asphalt on South Avenue/Thacher Street (Route 123), which is being resurfaced in addition to getting new sidewalks.
“All of us are making sure we’re hydrated to keep our energy going,” said Tyler Ferreira of Swansea, a laborer with Hot Mix Asphalt of Pawtucket. “It’s definitely a hot day.”
A police officer directing traffic at the roadwork site made sure to take frequent swigs of water from a bottle.
The thermometer peaked at 94 just before 2 p.m. in Attleboro but the humidity made it feel like 102, the city water department reported.
Dozens of workers were busy putting the final touches on the new $260 million Attleboro High School which is set to open in September.
With a yellow hardhat, Sean Graney of North Attleboro surveyed the road along the back of the new school building, taking measurements and spray-painting markings.
“We are doing well. We hydrate and take breaks when we have to,” Graney said.
The sun was beating down, but there was at least a breeze in the afternoon, albeit a hot one.
A contractor with Fine Home Solutions of Attleboro was working at a home on Black Oak Drive in Attleboro.
“It’s exhausting, it takes the life out of you,” said the employee, who identified himself only as Tim. “You just do your job.”
His advice to other workers is to stay hydrated and seek air conditioning when you can.
Two employees with Steven T Paving and Concrete of Dighton were working at International Healthcare Training and Function Hall on County Street in Attleboro.
“Stay out of the sun, keep drinking water and Gatorade,” Steven Fordhan said of his advice to other workers.
“It’s money. I have mouths to feed. I don’t pay attention to the heat,” another employee said.
The property owner who hired the workers, Peter Waihiga, advises workers to stay inside as much as they can. “Work in the morning, and avoid the weather from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.,” he said.
Believe it or not, in Attleboro, the thermometer reached 90 at 10 a.m. and was still at that temperature at 5 p.m.
There weren’t any landscapers in sight Thursday afternoon but most likely they tried to wrap up their yard work by noon.
That wasn’t an option for delivery workers, postal workers and trash collectors who still had to make their rounds in the afternoon.
Unfortunately for them and other workers, Friday is forecast to be more of the same sizzling and humid weather, perhaps worst.
A heat advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service in Norton through 8 p.m. Friday. Such an advisory is issued when temperatures are forecast to run at least 95.
Thursday’s high of 94 wasn’t the hottest day of this hot and dry summer, as two consecutive days in late July reached 95, water department records show.
It did, however, mark the summer’s second heat wave, defined as three straight days of at least 90 degrees. Wednesday hit 91 and Tuesday hit 90.
The typical high for Thursday’s date is 86 and the record high is 95, set in 2007, according to water department records.
Friday and Saturday could see some late-day showers and thunderstorms, forecasters said, but the hot spell isn’t expected to break until next week.
The weather service is forecasting a period of oppressive heat and humidity lasting through the weekend. Feel-like temps will range from 95 to 105 degrees across much of the state Friday, and from 95 to 100 degrees Saturday through Monday. Temperatures may return closer to normal by early to middle of next week, the service said.
Area authorities advise people to check-in with neighbors and friends, especially those 65 and older, to ask if they’re cool enough.
Medication, chronic illness, limited mobility, and other factors may affect temperature regulation, increasing risk during extreme heat, Norton officials said.
MassDEP advises that people in sensitive groups such as those with heart or lung disease, asthma, older adults, children, teenagers, and people who are active outdoors should reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion, take more breaks, do less intense activities, and keep quick-relief medicine handy. Also, watch for symptoms such as coughing or shortness of breath.
