YAKIMA — It was 101 degrees at the Yakima Air Terminal by 5 p.m. Sunday, making it the hottest June 7 in Yakima since 1948, when the temperature reached 97 degrees.
The National Weather Service says the heat will continue in the region, but it shouldn’t reach 100 again this week in Yakima. AccuWeather, which provides the weather page for the Yakima Herald-Republic, predicts a high of 103 Monday.
Sunday’s heat started early, hitting 90 degrees before noon. In anticipation of the record-setting weather, Yakima Parks and Recreation opened the swimming pool at Franklin Park a few days ahead of schedule, for limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. It will open for the season on Wednesday.
By 12:45 Sunday, just 15 minutes after doors opened, there were already about 350 people in the pool, staff said.
“We’re glad to be able to provide swimming for folks today, even earlier than we were planned to open,” Parks and Recreation manager Ken Wilkinson said later in the afternoon. “Just trying to meet the need and be responsive to what the weather gives us.”
Pool-goers weren’t complaining.
“I think it’s cool the pool’s open early and people can refresh instead of being really hot,” said Rosa Alcala, 11, who was at the pool with her cousin and brother, and planned to stay until it closed at 4:30.
The crowded scene wasn’t ideal, many people said, but it was still fun.
“We like to race and pretend we’re really fast swimmers,” Alcala said.
Five lifeguards were on duty, frequently blasting their whistles at young kids and teens alike for running along the pool’s edges.
“We were excited (by the early opening) — we live just up the hill,” said Aggie Bautista, 33, who brought her son and daughter, ages 6 and 8. Their family also heads to the Prosser Aquatic Center in the summer.
“They do swim lessons at the Athletic Club (in Yakima), so they come here and practice their lessons,” she said. “The kids can swim and cool off.”
Not everyone in town was so lucky: Adult soccer teams in Liga Monreal were at Chesterley Park all day, where the only respite from the sun was under a few trees here and there.
“It’s really hot; you just have to drink a lot of water,” said Fredy Bavillo, who had played early in the afternoon but had stayed to watch other games.
Because of the heat, the players took breaks every 20 minutes.
“If we’d kept running through, without breaks, it would’ve been much harder. People could have hurt themselves,” Bavillo said.
For next week, his team is thinking about buying a canopy to provide shade.
Several groups were out for parties and barbecues at Franklin Park, where they crowded into whatever shade they could find, under the larger trees.
Michelle Ramos was at a family reunion that had been scheduled more than two months ago, so she said they were glad to have reserved the large space under the gazebo, which kept them out of the sun.
“We’d be dying if we didn’t have the reserved space,” she said.
At Home Depot, staff said a lot of customers have been calling about air conditioners; the store sells window AC units, along with some swamp coolers and parts for other systems.
At Ace Hardware on West Tieton Drive, supervisor Rogan Rousseau said a few fans were sold this weekend, but he thinks the real surge in demand will happen later in the week.
“We haven’t gotten too extraordinarily cookin’ outside yet,” he said.
Meteorologist Rob Brooks at the National Weather Service reporting station in Pendleton, Ore., said it looks like Sunday would be the hottest day of the week; the Tri-Cities and Pendleton will be in the triple-digits on Tuesday, but he said Yakima will cool off a degree or so, with forecast highs of 99 today and 94 on Tuesday.
Brooks said highs should be in the low 90s later in the week.
A Fire Weather Watch issued by the Weather Service is in effect today because of the heat and dry and windy conditions in parts of Kittitas and northern and western Yakima counties.
