“Hot jobs” |
| Posted: 13 Aug 2010 03:32 AM PDT 8/13/2010 By CHRIS HUNTER Salina Journal Temperatures in Salina reached 105 degrees Thursday, but that's nowhere near the record high temperature for the area. "In 1936, it was 117 degrees in Salina (on Aug. 12)," said Kevin Darmofal, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "The next day was 118." The temperature is expected to drop next week, but the National Weather Service is predicting a sixth consecutive day of 100-plus degree temperatures in Salina today, with a high of around 100. "Seven days out of the 12 we have had in August have reached 100 degrees," Darmofal said. "We have had five straight days of 100-degree temperatures and, depending on the speed of this front, we should get a sixth." Darmofal said late July and early August are the hottest times of the year for Kansas, but the average temperature for Salina at this time of year is 92 degrees. "It is hard to say if this is the last stretch of 100-degree weather," Darmofal said. "We may not get any more for a long time." As the mercury climbed Thursday, the Journal went out in search of some of the city's hottest jobs. 100 degrees? That's nothing Standing on the tarmac at Salina Municipal Airport, America Jet line manager Todd Ellison's temperature gun read 123 degrees as he prepared to help start up a pair of T-38s that were getting ready to return to Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Okla. "Wait until you get the blast off the engines," Ellison said. "When he (the pilot) turns out, he is blowing everything (heat) on you. It is miserable." The temperature of the exhaust in the two T-38s, part of the 71st Flying Wing, 3rd Fighter Training Squadron, reached 1,000 degrees when Ellison's crew started the planes. While his workers are on the flight line, Ellison said he tells them to keep hydrated and cool. "I don't work them hard unless we have to," Ellison said. "We let them in the air conditioning and tell them if they get too hot to take a break. We will work around them." Ellison said the 120-plus degree temperatures on the ramp at the airport are normal on days when the temperature reaches 100-plus degrees outside. "It doesn't make the job difficult, but it makes everyone get short-tempered," Ellison said. "It is just part of the job." The hot weather isn't slowing down Martin Cisneros and James Goetzel, workers with Salina's city street maintenance crew. The pair were helping to prepare Iron Avenue for a new layer of hot-mix asphalt by milling the road as the temperature reached 104 Thursday. "It (the hot-mix) intensifies the heat," Cisneros said. "You don't have the heat off the sun, you have the heat from the hot asphalt. It is rising next to you and you are constantly dripping sweat." When the hot-mix is poured today, temperatures will reach 350 degrees. Goetzel said the workers must help keep the street level as it is rolled, as well as using rakes and a Bobcat, which Cisneros said is not any cooler. Goetzel and Cisneros said the street workers are constantly looking out for one another with water and Gatorade to keep hydrated. "It wears on all of us," Cisneros said. "We have to watch each other's backs. We ask continually if the other is OK. It is important nobody goes down on the job." Rockin' in the sun Sweat poured down Thao Tran's face as she rocked out on a Little Caesars guitar shakerboard Thursday afternoon. Tran, who usually works inside Little Caesars, said "shakerboarding" gets to be a hot job. On Thursday, she strummed the cardboard guitar as she walked up and down Crawford Street in front of the store -- and the temperature just kept rising. Tran said people honk and yell out the window, especially when she spikes her hair up. "People find it strangely amusing to see someone running around outside," Tran said. "They think, 'What are they doing?'" Tom Perrin, owner of Little Caesars, said Tran, and other workers who use the shakerboards, are allowed to come inside if they get too hot or need a drink. "It gets pretty hot. I miss clouds and coldness," Tran said. "I love air conditioning and I miss it." nReporter Chris Hunter can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at chunter@salina.com.  This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Content Keyword RSS To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment