Highs well above century mark in Modesto

A steady breeze was making all the difference for people working outdoors in the heat Tuesday afternoon in Modesto.

In the 1 o’clock hour, the workday was winding down for a three-man crew preparing a foundation for paving in a shopping center at Briggsmore and McHenry avenues. That’s one of the “rules” of making it safely through a hot day, said foreman “Pickle” Fletcher: Start early, end early. The GHI Hedgecock Paving crew began at 5:30 a.m. and would be ending at 2 or 2:30.

The National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday was a high near 106 degrees, but Fletcher and his crew didn’t think it would get that hot. “It’s nice that it’s a little overcast with a breeze,” he said. “The clouds raise the humidity a bit, but it’s worth it because they keep the temperature down. It could be a lot worse. It’s supposed to be hotter tomorrow – come back then and it could be a whole different story.”

For the record, the Modesto Irrigation District as of 6 p.m. said the Modesto high Tuesday was 103. Wednesday’s forecast is sunny and hot, with a high near 106 and a calm wind reaching 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon.

In heat like that, Fletcher said, he and his co-workers make frequent stops at the two 5-gallon jugs of ice water on their work truck and remind one another to stay hydrated.

One of his crew, who gave his name only as Craig, said those water stops really don’t create the need for another type of stop. “If you drink coffee at 6 or so, you’ll go (to the restroom) a couple of times in the mornings, but that’s it.” The combination of heat and hard work sweats all the water right out of the body, he said.

Still, the crew members said, there are worse places they could have been – such as a plywood box.

That’s just where a lot of people were, too. In booths, selling fireworks.

In the parking lot of the old Longs Drugs across from McHenry Village, members of the Elite Gymnastics Boosters club were staffing a Phantom booth. The breeze wasn’t helping them, but an electric fan run by a generator was.

It could do only so much, though. Julee O’Rand resorted to pouring water down her back, and Lerin Bettencourt longed for the portable air conditioner they were able to use last summer.

Jeff O’Rand recalled some very hot days last summer, when it must have been 20 degrees higher inside the booth than outside. That didn’t scare him off from helping, though. In fact on Tuesday, he drew the hottest shift of the day, 2 to 6 p.m.

Farther north on McHenry, in the Safeway parking lot, the TNT stand run by Family Christian Center was the Hilton of fireworks booths. The L-shaped structure was catching the breeze so well that crepe-paper decorations hanging from the high ceiling were dancing.

“If we didn’t get this breeze, it still gets very hot,” said Darlene Steenburgh. To cope, those working in the booth frequently rotate with other volunteers to get some air beneath a canopy outside the booth.

But the bottom line, she said: “We’re working for our church, so we don’t mind.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 7:44 AM with the headline "Highs well above century mark in Modesto."